We can do all the prepping we want, but even the best of the best with the biggest pocketbooks and stockpiles of foods will eventually run out unless there's an additional source of foods coming in. Gardening is a great way to make your food storage stretch, but knowing what edibles are growing in the wild around you is another important food source. I've gathered a few links to sites that will help you identify things you can find in your back yard, along a roadside, or in the wild. Please take a minute to look through them. Some of these links will have the same plants on them from the other links, but if you go through them all you'll be able to pluck the info for each individual one out and print the picture to put in your prepper notebook for future reference.
Wild Food Guide: How To Identify The Best Wild Edible Foods (by Outdoor Life Survival)
Surviving In The Wild: 19 Common Edible Plants (by The Art Of Manliness)
Foraging: 52 Wild Plants You Can Eat (by RealFarmacy)
Identifying Wild Mushrooms (by Jeannine Tidwell, on the Twin Eagles Wilderness School Site)
- This link shows 4 distinctive mushrooms, known as the Foolproof Four, that are edible. Some edible mushrooms have poisonous lookalikes, but these 4 are pretty self set in their appearance.
Discover Wild Edible Plants (Again by Jeannine Tidwell, on the Twin Eagles Wilderness School Site)
- This link has a good list of edibles, you may want to look further into pictures for each one.
15 Edible Plants To Forage In Your Own Back Yard (by And Here We Are)
When SHTF, Know What Plants You Can Eat...and Shouldn't (by RECOIL)
(Please note that I do not take any responsibility for harm, incidents, or accidents that are caused from eating any plants or mushrooms in the wild. Make sure you are absolutely positive that you have correctly identified these plants/mushrooms before eating them, and make sure you have prepared them correctly. I also suggest taking a course on edible that can be found in the wild. This will give you a hands on experience which will leave less or no room for mistakes.)
Friday, September 12, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Milk Without A Cow After SHTF?
My youngest woke me up the night before last (he's 3) because he wanted a drink, he hasn't woke up at night in a long time. I got up and got him a water bottle, only to have him start crying because he wanted a drink of milk. After I got his drink of milk, waited for him to finish it, and got him settled back in bed, my mind started worrying a bit... it wasn't a bit, it was more like a lot. I started thinking more about how he really only likes to drink white milk. I'm not sure if this was bothering me so much because I was exhausted from having been sick the past few days, or if it was just a motherly love thing and I was worrying about honestly being able to provide everything for my children when it came down to it, or if it was a mix of both. It was probably a mix of both. Either way, I couldn't go back to sleep thinking about what I was going to do for milk if we don't have such easy access to a store like we do now. I turned to a group of women that I chat with on Facebook to see what suggestions any of them may have, and then decided to go and see what kind of answers I could find to this problem on my own. Before I go into the solution I found, let me explain this in better detail. I have a hard time getting my son to drink anything else, he just seems to like milk. Plain white milk. He couldn't care less if it's whole milk, 2%, skim milk, or anything like that, as long as it's plain white milk. Do any of you have a child like this?
After all the foods, waters, juices, and drink boxes and mixes I store back for the future 'just in case,' I really didn't know what to do about regular white milk. I've bought the dehydrated milk, made some up and gave it to him to see if he'd drink it before and he definitely doesn't like it. I keep it in stock for cooking with, but as far as him drinking it goes, it's a no go. As soon as it even touched his lips the first time I tried to give him some, he dropped the cup and gave me a look of panic like I was trying to poison him. I've bought the little boxes of milk that can be stored on the shelf, the other kids like them, and he'll drink those if they're cold, but if they aren't cold he won't even put the straw in. Occasionally he'll somewhat drink a juice box, but only if he sees all the other kids drinking one, and even then he just takes a sip or 2 from it and lets the rest just sit on the table until someone picks it up. If I'm drinking a bottled water or a glass of sweet tea, he sometimes wants a drink out of it, but never wants his own and he never drinks more than a sip or 2 of mine. He doesn't like Kool-Aid, and he doesn't like pop. He won't drink chocolate milk out of a cup or little drink box, and will even cry if I hand it to him by mistake. My youngest daughter always drinks it and I sometimes get their cups mixed up if I'm in the middle of doing something else. I've seen my son go from a happy kid to one that is crying like his whole world has came crashing down over an accidental switch up of white and chocolate milk. I used to laugh about having the only kid in the world that won't drink junk, but now I think some sort of fear has set in.
He's not just a spoiled kid either, overall my kids are fairly well disciplined. They don't have a lot of luxury things that most other kids have, and they do chores and everything on a regular basis, even this little 3 year old helps do stuff. He isn't picky at all as far as eating goes, he'll even eat some plain pinto beans with no salt (I throw mini-meals like that on my children sometimes to see how they'll act since you never know how bad things may get one day)... it's just this milk issue. My original plan has always been to go with stocking up those little milk boxes, but I know if we lose power for a length of time in the future, there's not really a way to get them very cold except in one of those zeer pots that I mentioned in a past post. Even then though, how would I come across more milk boxes once they run out or just expire if things haven't straightened back out? A milk cow or goat may be a good idea, but I know fresh milk has a different texture than gallons of milk and I'm pretty sure that goat milk tastes different than cow milk. I have no experience with these animals either, nor do I really have the land to put one on. The other thing is, if things came down to having to be on the move, if we had a cow or goat, I sure wouldn't want to try to lug it around with us if we were on foot. Nor would I want to have to share any water source we found with an animal that would clearly need more than we would.
I went to the store yesterday morning to pick up a few things and to look around to see what kind of milk alternatives I could find. I don't want to take milk from my son right now while he can still drink it as often as he wants to, but I knew that if I didn't get something figured out now, we would have a real problem if things get bad before he (hopefully someday) grows out of this only drinking white milk stage. I passed through the Hispanic aisle and seen a fairly decent sized yellow can of this powdered whole milk that's made by Nestle. It's called NIDO. I read the can over and decided to go ahead and pick one up. I wasn't so sure that he'd want to drink any of it, nor would he like it if I could get him to try it, but I figured it was worth a shot. After I was home and put my groceries away, I decided to mix some up in a pitcher to see how he'd do if I gave him some to drink. I was going to be sneaky about it, but he stood right there watching me the whole time. When he seen me opening the can he stared for a second and asked me what it was. I tried to play it cool and just told him it was milk. He was definitely watching me like a hawk as I mixed it with some bottled water, and then he asked me again what it was, sounding a little confused (poor kid), and I told him again it was milk.
I didn't offer him any after it was mixed. I was sure that if it wasn't cold he wouldn't like it and that would throw away any chance of him ever trying it again in the future. When I went to put it in the fridge he wanted to drink some he said. I told him it wasn't cold yet and did he want to wait until it was cold, but he insisted that he wanted a drink of it. So I put some in the cup and just hoped for the best. He just took the cup, looked inside it, like he was trying to find something, and then took a little drink. He looked at me for a second, repeated back to me that it wasn't cold yet, stared at me for a couple seconds, and then just walked away with the cup in his hand. I watched him as he went around the corner and walked into the living room, thinking that he was going to just set it down somewhere. I watched him hold that little cup for a minute and look inside it a few times, and then he just took another drink. After the first couple drinks he took I noticed he looked inside it, but he ended up drinking it all.
I guess he either likes it, or it's something tolerable enough for his little taste buds. He ended up drinking more of it later, without doing the cup inspection between each sip like he did with the first cup. I guess I'll stock up on that stuff. I tasted it and it didn't seem too bad, it looks thicker than that regular boxed milk I was buying too. It has a 2 year expiration date on it, and each can makes about 53 servings. I guess that's the way I'm going to go, if I can get him into drinking water or something else too, then one can should last him about a month or so and at around $15 a can I don't think that's a bad price. I'll still buy him regular milk and stuff as long as it's available, but at least if worst comes to worst he will drink this NIDO even if it isn't cold. It can be mixed in small one cup portions too, so I don't have to worry about mixing up a whole pitcher just for it to go bad without refrigeration. I'm not sure if any of you are having, or have had, this same 'white milk only kid' experience, but if so I suggest trying this NIDO. I think it's a good alternative and it's whole milk that's fortified with vitamins A, C, and D, and has added calcium, iron, and zinc.
(This post is written on my own opinion, Nestle didn't contact me to write about one of their products for advertisement or anything, so please don't contact me asking for coupons, discounts, or ideas on how to make a profit for writing about a certain product for a company. I just wanted to let readers know before they waste their time asking.)
After all the foods, waters, juices, and drink boxes and mixes I store back for the future 'just in case,' I really didn't know what to do about regular white milk. I've bought the dehydrated milk, made some up and gave it to him to see if he'd drink it before and he definitely doesn't like it. I keep it in stock for cooking with, but as far as him drinking it goes, it's a no go. As soon as it even touched his lips the first time I tried to give him some, he dropped the cup and gave me a look of panic like I was trying to poison him. I've bought the little boxes of milk that can be stored on the shelf, the other kids like them, and he'll drink those if they're cold, but if they aren't cold he won't even put the straw in. Occasionally he'll somewhat drink a juice box, but only if he sees all the other kids drinking one, and even then he just takes a sip or 2 from it and lets the rest just sit on the table until someone picks it up. If I'm drinking a bottled water or a glass of sweet tea, he sometimes wants a drink out of it, but never wants his own and he never drinks more than a sip or 2 of mine. He doesn't like Kool-Aid, and he doesn't like pop. He won't drink chocolate milk out of a cup or little drink box, and will even cry if I hand it to him by mistake. My youngest daughter always drinks it and I sometimes get their cups mixed up if I'm in the middle of doing something else. I've seen my son go from a happy kid to one that is crying like his whole world has came crashing down over an accidental switch up of white and chocolate milk. I used to laugh about having the only kid in the world that won't drink junk, but now I think some sort of fear has set in.
He's not just a spoiled kid either, overall my kids are fairly well disciplined. They don't have a lot of luxury things that most other kids have, and they do chores and everything on a regular basis, even this little 3 year old helps do stuff. He isn't picky at all as far as eating goes, he'll even eat some plain pinto beans with no salt (I throw mini-meals like that on my children sometimes to see how they'll act since you never know how bad things may get one day)... it's just this milk issue. My original plan has always been to go with stocking up those little milk boxes, but I know if we lose power for a length of time in the future, there's not really a way to get them very cold except in one of those zeer pots that I mentioned in a past post. Even then though, how would I come across more milk boxes once they run out or just expire if things haven't straightened back out? A milk cow or goat may be a good idea, but I know fresh milk has a different texture than gallons of milk and I'm pretty sure that goat milk tastes different than cow milk. I have no experience with these animals either, nor do I really have the land to put one on. The other thing is, if things came down to having to be on the move, if we had a cow or goat, I sure wouldn't want to try to lug it around with us if we were on foot. Nor would I want to have to share any water source we found with an animal that would clearly need more than we would.
I went to the store yesterday morning to pick up a few things and to look around to see what kind of milk alternatives I could find. I don't want to take milk from my son right now while he can still drink it as often as he wants to, but I knew that if I didn't get something figured out now, we would have a real problem if things get bad before he (hopefully someday) grows out of this only drinking white milk stage. I passed through the Hispanic aisle and seen a fairly decent sized yellow can of this powdered whole milk that's made by Nestle. It's called NIDO. I read the can over and decided to go ahead and pick one up. I wasn't so sure that he'd want to drink any of it, nor would he like it if I could get him to try it, but I figured it was worth a shot. After I was home and put my groceries away, I decided to mix some up in a pitcher to see how he'd do if I gave him some to drink. I was going to be sneaky about it, but he stood right there watching me the whole time. When he seen me opening the can he stared for a second and asked me what it was. I tried to play it cool and just told him it was milk. He was definitely watching me like a hawk as I mixed it with some bottled water, and then he asked me again what it was, sounding a little confused (poor kid), and I told him again it was milk.
I didn't offer him any after it was mixed. I was sure that if it wasn't cold he wouldn't like it and that would throw away any chance of him ever trying it again in the future. When I went to put it in the fridge he wanted to drink some he said. I told him it wasn't cold yet and did he want to wait until it was cold, but he insisted that he wanted a drink of it. So I put some in the cup and just hoped for the best. He just took the cup, looked inside it, like he was trying to find something, and then took a little drink. He looked at me for a second, repeated back to me that it wasn't cold yet, stared at me for a couple seconds, and then just walked away with the cup in his hand. I watched him as he went around the corner and walked into the living room, thinking that he was going to just set it down somewhere. I watched him hold that little cup for a minute and look inside it a few times, and then he just took another drink. After the first couple drinks he took I noticed he looked inside it, but he ended up drinking it all.
I guess he either likes it, or it's something tolerable enough for his little taste buds. He ended up drinking more of it later, without doing the cup inspection between each sip like he did with the first cup. I guess I'll stock up on that stuff. I tasted it and it didn't seem too bad, it looks thicker than that regular boxed milk I was buying too. It has a 2 year expiration date on it, and each can makes about 53 servings. I guess that's the way I'm going to go, if I can get him into drinking water or something else too, then one can should last him about a month or so and at around $15 a can I don't think that's a bad price. I'll still buy him regular milk and stuff as long as it's available, but at least if worst comes to worst he will drink this NIDO even if it isn't cold. It can be mixed in small one cup portions too, so I don't have to worry about mixing up a whole pitcher just for it to go bad without refrigeration. I'm not sure if any of you are having, or have had, this same 'white milk only kid' experience, but if so I suggest trying this NIDO. I think it's a good alternative and it's whole milk that's fortified with vitamins A, C, and D, and has added calcium, iron, and zinc.
(This post is written on my own opinion, Nestle didn't contact me to write about one of their products for advertisement or anything, so please don't contact me asking for coupons, discounts, or ideas on how to make a profit for writing about a certain product for a company. I just wanted to let readers know before they waste their time asking.)
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Water Storage 101
I wrote a previous post about Water Filtration & Purification, but today I'm going to talk about water storage. I'm going to go through this in an easy to follow listing for each thing you should know about long-term water storage.
How Much Water To Store:
- A good rule to go by is that each person will need one gallon of drinking water per day.
- Pregnant women, children, the elderly, those who are ill, and people living in extreme climates (either really hot, or really cold) should plan for 2 gallons per day.
- This gallon of water per day is the amount needed for drinking only. Store an additional gallon of water per person, per day to cover water that will be needed for cooking and hygiene use.
- If you have pets, remember to put water back for them too. If you have a medium to large dog, 1 gallon of water should be stored for them per day. Smaller dogs and cats will need 1/2 a gallon per day.
- Pets that live in extreme climates, like people, will need that amount doubled.
Best Way To Store Water:
- Choose a place that has little or no light, and try to find a location that is not too cold.
- Choose jugs or containers that are BPA free.
- If buying gallons or containers of water from a store, choose ones labeled 'drinking water' and NOT 'distilled water.' Distilled water tends to absorb the taste of the container. Also, distilled water is nothing more than processed tap water that has been condensed back into liquid form. This process removes fluoride and electrolytes. Lack of fluoride could heighten chances of dental problems, and your body needs electrolytes, such as potassium, chloride, and sodium to stay hydrated.
Shelf Life Of Store Bought Water:
- Store bought drinking water comes with an expiration date on it, usually a year or 2, but according to the FDA it has an indefinite shelf life. (see 4th paragraph under 'FAQ's about Bottled Water')
How To Prepare Your Own Water Containers For Storage:
- Be sure that each container has a tight fitting lid. That is very important.
- Clean the food grade BPA free plastic or glass container(s) by washing the inside, outside, and the lid(s) with hot soapy water.
- Sanitize the inside and outside of container(s) and lid(s) using a solution of 1 teaspoon non-scented household bleach per quart of water.
- Be sure and thoroughly rinse the container(s) and lid(s) with clean water.
How To Prepare (Non-Store Bought) Water For Storage:
Before I get into treating your tap water, I want to say that once you treated your water you should only consider it pure for 6 months. Since you shouldn't add more bleach to water that was previously treated with bleach, please just sanitize the containers and fill them with straight tap water before storing them.
Date the containers and keep them in a dark place in the coolest area of your home or wherever your storage is located. This water will be safe as is for up to 6 months without any further treatment as long as you filled them during a time that you didn't have a boil order or anything going on.
If you plan to store water in larger tanks for future drinking, be sure that you save smaller containers that are of quart, gallon, or 5 gallon sizes so you can treat smaller amounts of water at a time. I can't express how important it is to remember to store back bleach, droppers, and measuring spoons.
If your stored tap water has been sitting for over 6 months from the date you filled them, you'll need to treat the water before drinking it or using it for cooking. This water and bleach mixture will need to sit at least 30 minutes before drinking it to ensure that it has been properly purified. After sitting for the 30 minute period, there should be a slight chlorine scent to it.
- use 2 drops of bleach for 1 quart of clear water
- use 4 drops of bleach for 1 quart of water if it looks cloudy
- use 8 drops of bleach for 1 gallon of clear water
- use 16 drops of bleach for 1 gallon of water that looks cloudy
- use 1/2 teaspoon of bleach for 5 gallons of clear water
- use 1 teaspoon of bleach for 5 gallons of water that looks cloudy
After the water has been treated, be sure and date the container again. This water is only good for 6 months after the treatment date.
Alternative Boiling Water Treatment:
In the event that you have ran out of bleach to treat your water, or if you're allergic to bleach, you should use a boiling method to purify your water.
- Bring water to a rolling boil and let it stay at the rolling boil for a minimum of 1 minute.
- Let the water cool before drinking it or storing it.
- If you choose to store water once you have boiled it, remember to date it. It is only safe for 6 months after boiled. It should be boiled again if not used within the 6 month time period.
Alternative Iodine Tablet Purification:
- I'm not familiar with using iodine tablets. If you choose to stock these back and use them, you should follow the manufacturers instructions that come with them.
- Long-term safety after using iodine tablets isn't clear, so this should be an alternative for water that will be used as soon as the manufacturer's instructions state it is safe to use it. Water treated with this should not be set back in storage for any length of time.
- If you haven't used iodine tablets before and haven't been exposed to iodine in general, be cautious because some people are allergic to it.
How Much Water To Store:
- A good rule to go by is that each person will need one gallon of drinking water per day.
- Pregnant women, children, the elderly, those who are ill, and people living in extreme climates (either really hot, or really cold) should plan for 2 gallons per day.
- This gallon of water per day is the amount needed for drinking only. Store an additional gallon of water per person, per day to cover water that will be needed for cooking and hygiene use.
- If you have pets, remember to put water back for them too. If you have a medium to large dog, 1 gallon of water should be stored for them per day. Smaller dogs and cats will need 1/2 a gallon per day.
- Pets that live in extreme climates, like people, will need that amount doubled.
Best Way To Store Water:
- Choose a place that has little or no light, and try to find a location that is not too cold.
- Choose jugs or containers that are BPA free.
- If buying gallons or containers of water from a store, choose ones labeled 'drinking water' and NOT 'distilled water.' Distilled water tends to absorb the taste of the container. Also, distilled water is nothing more than processed tap water that has been condensed back into liquid form. This process removes fluoride and electrolytes. Lack of fluoride could heighten chances of dental problems, and your body needs electrolytes, such as potassium, chloride, and sodium to stay hydrated.
Shelf Life Of Store Bought Water:
- Store bought drinking water comes with an expiration date on it, usually a year or 2, but according to the FDA it has an indefinite shelf life. (see 4th paragraph under 'FAQ's about Bottled Water')
How To Prepare Your Own Water Containers For Storage:
- Be sure that each container has a tight fitting lid. That is very important.
- Clean the food grade BPA free plastic or glass container(s) by washing the inside, outside, and the lid(s) with hot soapy water.
- Sanitize the inside and outside of container(s) and lid(s) using a solution of 1 teaspoon non-scented household bleach per quart of water.
- Be sure and thoroughly rinse the container(s) and lid(s) with clean water.
How To Prepare (Non-Store Bought) Water For Storage:
Before I get into treating your tap water, I want to say that once you treated your water you should only consider it pure for 6 months. Since you shouldn't add more bleach to water that was previously treated with bleach, please just sanitize the containers and fill them with straight tap water before storing them.
Date the containers and keep them in a dark place in the coolest area of your home or wherever your storage is located. This water will be safe as is for up to 6 months without any further treatment as long as you filled them during a time that you didn't have a boil order or anything going on.
If you plan to store water in larger tanks for future drinking, be sure that you save smaller containers that are of quart, gallon, or 5 gallon sizes so you can treat smaller amounts of water at a time. I can't express how important it is to remember to store back bleach, droppers, and measuring spoons.
If your stored tap water has been sitting for over 6 months from the date you filled them, you'll need to treat the water before drinking it or using it for cooking. This water and bleach mixture will need to sit at least 30 minutes before drinking it to ensure that it has been properly purified. After sitting for the 30 minute period, there should be a slight chlorine scent to it.
- use 2 drops of bleach for 1 quart of clear water
- use 4 drops of bleach for 1 quart of water if it looks cloudy
- use 8 drops of bleach for 1 gallon of clear water
- use 16 drops of bleach for 1 gallon of water that looks cloudy
- use 1/2 teaspoon of bleach for 5 gallons of clear water
- use 1 teaspoon of bleach for 5 gallons of water that looks cloudy
After the water has been treated, be sure and date the container again. This water is only good for 6 months after the treatment date.
Alternative Boiling Water Treatment:
In the event that you have ran out of bleach to treat your water, or if you're allergic to bleach, you should use a boiling method to purify your water.
- Bring water to a rolling boil and let it stay at the rolling boil for a minimum of 1 minute.
- Let the water cool before drinking it or storing it.
- If you choose to store water once you have boiled it, remember to date it. It is only safe for 6 months after boiled. It should be boiled again if not used within the 6 month time period.
Alternative Iodine Tablet Purification:
- I'm not familiar with using iodine tablets. If you choose to stock these back and use them, you should follow the manufacturers instructions that come with them.
- Long-term safety after using iodine tablets isn't clear, so this should be an alternative for water that will be used as soon as the manufacturer's instructions state it is safe to use it. Water treated with this should not be set back in storage for any length of time.
- If you haven't used iodine tablets before and haven't been exposed to iodine in general, be cautious because some people are allergic to it.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Protection For Children, Especially Our Daughters, During Chaotic Times.
In this post I'm going to briefly talk about protecting your children in chaotic times, or even better, enabling them to protect themselves. Of course I would fight to the death trying to keep my children safe, and I'm sure you would too, but it's important that they also know ways to protect themselves. I hope it doesn't come down to it, but the possibility of being ran in on by unprepared, looting idiots who intend to do nothing more than hurt or kill whoever is in their way so they can take over whatever food or supplies they want is a very real possibility. Another sad truth that I daily pray my daughters and I will never have to face is the possibility of disgusting lunatics who will go around foraging for women and young females that they can rape simply for their own pleasure.
You need to prepare yourself and your children, especially your daughters, for circumstances like this. The first step would be to sit down and have a heart to heart discussion about these situations. These may be hard topics to talk about with your children because they're terrifying, but they're also going to be hard for their younger minds to fathom. I can't express the importance of these discussions though, these are very real possibilities that could one day turn into real life problems. I feel like the best physical preparation for all of this is through self defense classes, and depending on their age, shooting classes. I'm going to share some links below that will help you locate a great defense class and shooting courses near you. In the meantime, stock up on pepper spray, and look into getting a stun gun, or even a stun baton... don't forget to stock up on additional batteries.
R.A.D. Programs (Rape, Aggression, Defense System) - Locate a class near you!
radKIDS (Rape, Aggression, Defense System for children) - Locate a class near you!
NRA Training - Find a location near you that offers adult and youth firearm care and self defense courses.
You need to prepare yourself and your children, especially your daughters, for circumstances like this. The first step would be to sit down and have a heart to heart discussion about these situations. These may be hard topics to talk about with your children because they're terrifying, but they're also going to be hard for their younger minds to fathom. I can't express the importance of these discussions though, these are very real possibilities that could one day turn into real life problems. I feel like the best physical preparation for all of this is through self defense classes, and depending on their age, shooting classes. I'm going to share some links below that will help you locate a great defense class and shooting courses near you. In the meantime, stock up on pepper spray, and look into getting a stun gun, or even a stun baton... don't forget to stock up on additional batteries.
R.A.D. Programs (Rape, Aggression, Defense System) - Locate a class near you!
radKIDS (Rape, Aggression, Defense System for children) - Locate a class near you!
NRA Training - Find a location near you that offers adult and youth firearm care and self defense courses.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
What About Food Poisoning After SHTF?
Am I the only one who feels like a post disaster/SHTF situation may result in more cases of food poisoning? Unless you are running on solar energy or have some sort of generator set up, refrigeration probably isn't going to be something that you have access too. While there are make-shift fridges like the clay pot ones mentioned in a past post, they still won't work as well as the ones we have today. With foods being a precious necessity, I can only think that some people will have a hard time throwing things out if they think it's just starting to go bad, so maybe the foods that are a bit iffy will still be consumed with fingers crossed that no one gets sick. But what if you do? Food poisoning is nothing to play around with. I've asked a little over a handful of people what their take on this was, and even though I consider everyone that I asked to be better seasoned preppers than myself, they all said they hadn't even thought about it. I know that abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, nausea, and vomiting aren't something we like to sit around and think about, but since those are the symptoms of food poisoning I think they're pretty important to at least bring to your attention once. So let me tell you my take on it, and then let me share some natural remedies that could just help you get through it, especially during a time when hospitals aren't accessible.
I've had food poisoning twice. I went to the hospital the first time, I thought I had caught some disease and was a goner. The hospital ran a small series of tests, then gave me an IV to make sure I didn't get anymore dehydrated than I already was when I arrived, kept me over night, and I was given antibiotics. The second time I got food poisoning, some 4 years later, I didn't go anywhere. It hit me so fast and so hard that I couldn't drive myself to the hospital, my mind and vision both seemed too blurry to function enough to even remember where my cell phone was at, my body hurt so bad that it felt like it was shutting down, and every movement resulted in vomiting or 'other' toilet uses. I had somehow managed to pull a pillow and blanket onto the bathroom floor, and couldn't do anything but wait for the person I was living with to get off work... it seemed like he'd never make it home. I thought for sure I was living the last hours of my life right there on that bathroom floor, just inches from the toilet.
When he did make it home and found me in the bathroom, I remember mumbling to him that I knew I had food poisoning, but couldn't get up to even go to the car. After who knows how long, he returned and told me he called him Mom (in Mexico), and she told him what to give me. Without asking anything, I assumed she had told him of some magic cure and I gathered enough strength to sit up. I drank the first cup he handed me, which instantly resulted in the worst and longest session of vomiting that I went through since I had gotten sick that day. The vomiting eventually turned to a few dry heaves, then it stopped. My headache and dizziness seemed to immediately ease up and I was able to sit up against the bathtub. I still felt horrible though. He handed me a raw clove of garlic, told me to chew it just enough to make it small enough to swallow, and then swallow it with the liquid in the second cup. The thought alone made me think I would get sick, but I did as he said. I waited a second thinking for sure I'd throw up again, but I didn't. After a couple minutes I felt remarkably better and was able to stand up, wash my hands and face, I drank a bottle of water and was able to keep it down, and I went to bed where I slept solid the rest of the night.
When I woke up the next morning I felt perfectly fine, aside from barely noticeable sore stomach muscles. He had already left for work by the time I woke up, so I decided to call his Mom and ask what all he had given me. Since her seemingly magical remedies helped me almost instantly, I thought it was well worth taking note of incase they were ever needed in the future. The first cup was nothing more than some sort of homemade Alka-Seltzer which contained the following ingredients:
I've had food poisoning twice. I went to the hospital the first time, I thought I had caught some disease and was a goner. The hospital ran a small series of tests, then gave me an IV to make sure I didn't get anymore dehydrated than I already was when I arrived, kept me over night, and I was given antibiotics. The second time I got food poisoning, some 4 years later, I didn't go anywhere. It hit me so fast and so hard that I couldn't drive myself to the hospital, my mind and vision both seemed too blurry to function enough to even remember where my cell phone was at, my body hurt so bad that it felt like it was shutting down, and every movement resulted in vomiting or 'other' toilet uses. I had somehow managed to pull a pillow and blanket onto the bathroom floor, and couldn't do anything but wait for the person I was living with to get off work... it seemed like he'd never make it home. I thought for sure I was living the last hours of my life right there on that bathroom floor, just inches from the toilet.
When he did make it home and found me in the bathroom, I remember mumbling to him that I knew I had food poisoning, but couldn't get up to even go to the car. After who knows how long, he returned and told me he called him Mom (in Mexico), and she told him what to give me. Without asking anything, I assumed she had told him of some magic cure and I gathered enough strength to sit up. I drank the first cup he handed me, which instantly resulted in the worst and longest session of vomiting that I went through since I had gotten sick that day. The vomiting eventually turned to a few dry heaves, then it stopped. My headache and dizziness seemed to immediately ease up and I was able to sit up against the bathtub. I still felt horrible though. He handed me a raw clove of garlic, told me to chew it just enough to make it small enough to swallow, and then swallow it with the liquid in the second cup. The thought alone made me think I would get sick, but I did as he said. I waited a second thinking for sure I'd throw up again, but I didn't. After a couple minutes I felt remarkably better and was able to stand up, wash my hands and face, I drank a bottle of water and was able to keep it down, and I went to bed where I slept solid the rest of the night.
When I woke up the next morning I felt perfectly fine, aside from barely noticeable sore stomach muscles. He had already left for work by the time I woke up, so I decided to call his Mom and ask what all he had given me. Since her seemingly magical remedies helped me almost instantly, I thought it was well worth taking note of incase they were ever needed in the future. The first cup was nothing more than some sort of homemade Alka-Seltzer which contained the following ingredients:
1 cup of carbonated water
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 fresh lime squeezed into the cup
I'm not sure what it was in this Alka-Seltzer type concoction that made me throw up the way it did, but I'm guessing it worked because it got out whatever bit of spoiled food that was left in my stomach at the time I drank it. The thing he gave me after that was the garlic clove and the second cup. I asked her the story behind the garlic and she told me that it's used in some of the poor areas of Mexico as a natural antibiotic, and it helps strengthen the immune system. She said the second cup that he gave me to drink with the garlic was a tea that contained the following:
5 fresh basil leaves
tablespoon dried chamomile
2 cups of water
The tea was made by bringing the basil and chamomile to a boil in the water, letting it boil down to about half its original volume, straining the basil and chamomile out of the water, and drinking it without any sugar, honey, or other sweetener. The basil worked as a natural pain reliever, and the chamomile helped with digestion and cramps.
She said she had heard of these remedies used by numerous people in the past, was given them herself when she got food poisoning once, and that she had even used them on her children a couple times. She swore by these little concoctions and said she never had, and never would, turn to the hospitals or doctors for food poisoning when it can be so cheaply, simply, and quickly dealt with right at home.
Here's my comparison on it from my own experiences. When I went to the hospital with my first case of food poisoning, I remember feeling like it was a long process. I was sick for a few days, getting a bit better as each day passed. Even though I was fine after it all, going through the testing, the prick of the IV when my whole body already hurt, having to stay overnight in the hospital, and having to take antibiotics until they were gone wasn't pleasing. It only seemed to make me more uncomfortable. If I were to ever get food poisoning again, which I pray I don't since it's so horrible, I will definitely just go with the natural remedies that I was given on my second spell of it. The recovery time seemed almost immediate after I had taken the little remedies that were given to me, and I didn't feel any of the leftover type of weakness the next day like I did from the hospital's 'cure.' I can't tell you not to go to the hospital if you have, or think you have, food poisoning, I just want to acknowledge you of these natural remedies. If S really does HTF in the future like so many of us are preparing for, this is just another remedy to add to your list of things in the event that you can't get to a hospital.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Could You Live Off A Menu From Great Depression Inspired Meals?
I ran across this earlier and thought I'd share it. I didn't write it, but it's interesting nonetheless. Some of these foods listed are things I ate during the summers when I visited my Granny and Gramps who lived through the Great Depression. Some of the things I've never tried, and to this day I'm not sure if I'd eat some of them unless it was really a life or death from starvation choice. What do you think? Check out the list by clicking the link below.
Could You Stomach These Great Depression Meals?
Look the list over and tell me what you think in the comments below. Have you eaten any of these? Would you try them all just to see what they taste like, or would it be more of a life or death situation on some of them? I'm just curious...
Could You Stomach These Great Depression Meals?
Look the list over and tell me what you think in the comments below. Have you eaten any of these? Would you try them all just to see what they taste like, or would it be more of a life or death situation on some of them? I'm just curious...
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Natural Remedies - Basil - Part 2 - Holy Basil, or Tulsi (Ocimum Tenuiflorum):
Thank you for coming back for part 2 of this series. As I mentioned before, there are numerous varieties of basil. Today I'm going to be sharing some of the health benefits and remedial uses of holy basil alone, along with the ways to prepare it for each use. I became familiar with each of these uses by word of mouth, but I took them all a step further and searched for confirmation from multiple places. Even though I'm not going to quote anything from what I've researched, I'll still place the links for the content I read so you have access to further references and research of your own. Let's get started.
Holy Basil Tea Preparation: Pour 8 ounces of boiling water over 10 leaves of fresh holy basil, cover it and let it steep for around 5 minutes. After it has steeped, strain off the basil leaves and drink. Prepare this without honey or other sweeteners unless specified. Some teas have alterations depending on what they are being used for, the alterations will be stated.
Remedial Uses of Holy Basil Tea:
Arthritis Relief, also Reduces Inflammation and Swelling - Drink as needed.
Asthma and Bronchitis Relief - The tea for this is a bit different, boil 15 fresh basil leaves and 2 thin slices of ginger in 1 liter of water until the water has boiled down to half its original volume, then add a bit of honey to taste and drink.
Blood Sugar - One 8 ounce cup per day could keep blood sugar regulated.
Cold and Flu Relief - Drink twice daily.
Fever Reducer - Can be drank every 2 - 3 hours to keep fever down.
Headache Relief - Can be crank at first sign of headache, this could prevent the headache from worsening and relieve the current pain.
Increases the Function of Kidneys - When drank daily with a small bit of honey, this can increase the function of kidneys. This may also help expel kidney stones (renal stones) in about 6 a month period. I know that's a long time, but if it were to ever come down to not having other options, this is a natural alternative.
Respiratory - Promotes healing of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections.
Sore Throat Relief, Soothes Cough - Can be drank or gargled.
Chewing Fresh Holy Basil Preparation: Following the harvesting instructions on the previous page, harvest the specified number of holy basil leaves you will need off the plant, rinse them well, and chew them fresh.
Remedial Uses for Chewing Fresh Holy Basil Leaves:
Mouth Infections - Chewing about 3 - 4 fresh leaves could cure mouth infections and ulcers, this may need to be done one time daily, for a couple days simultaneously. This can also help bad breath.
Stress and Anxiety - Chewing 12 fresh leaves a day could prevent stress and anxiety disorders. If you choose not to chew these daily, you can chew them at the first sign of heightened stress or anxiety to keep it at bay and provide calming.
Topical Holy Basil Leaf Preparation : Pound about 8 to 10 fresh holy basil leaves until it becomes a paste or cream-type consistency unless otherwise specified. You may need to add drops of water as you pound it out, but only use one or two drops at a time to ensure that you don't make it too watery.
Remedial Uses for Topical Fresh Holy Basil Leaf Cream or Paste:
Arthritis, Inflammation, and Pain Relief - A larger quantity of leaves may need to be used depending on the size of the area that needs relief. Just follow the general instructions, adding leaves and a drop or two of water as needed until you have enough paste to apply topically to the area. This can be done as needed, generally every 3 to 4 hours.
Headache Relief - If the tea doesn't seem to be doing the job, you can pound the leaves with sandalwood paste to be applied topically to temples or right onto the area of your head where you feel the headache.
Insect Bite Relief - Can be applied right to the bite to reduce swelling and ease the stinging, burning, or itching.
Minor Cuts and Scrapes - This can be applied to help with the pain and promote quicker healing. I don't recommend this for burns, I've tried it and it seemed to make it feel worse. Aloe is better, we'll discuss that in another post.
While I'm sure there are additional uses for Holy Basil, these are the main benefits and uses that I am familiar with. If you're aware of additional uses, please comment below so I can add them to this post. Below are the links I looked at to confirm these natural remedies and benefits, feel free to check them out.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Basil?
Basil Plants Have Anti-Arthritic Properties
Holy Basil Benefits: Growing Your Own Medicine
Health Benefits Of Holy Basil - Tulsi
15 Benefits Of Holy Basil (Tulsi)
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Please be sure and check back in for further information about other natural remedies. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Holy Basil Tea Preparation: Pour 8 ounces of boiling water over 10 leaves of fresh holy basil, cover it and let it steep for around 5 minutes. After it has steeped, strain off the basil leaves and drink. Prepare this without honey or other sweeteners unless specified. Some teas have alterations depending on what they are being used for, the alterations will be stated.
Remedial Uses of Holy Basil Tea:
Arthritis Relief, also Reduces Inflammation and Swelling - Drink as needed.
Asthma and Bronchitis Relief - The tea for this is a bit different, boil 15 fresh basil leaves and 2 thin slices of ginger in 1 liter of water until the water has boiled down to half its original volume, then add a bit of honey to taste and drink.
Blood Sugar - One 8 ounce cup per day could keep blood sugar regulated.
Cold and Flu Relief - Drink twice daily.
Fever Reducer - Can be drank every 2 - 3 hours to keep fever down.
Headache Relief - Can be crank at first sign of headache, this could prevent the headache from worsening and relieve the current pain.
Increases the Function of Kidneys - When drank daily with a small bit of honey, this can increase the function of kidneys. This may also help expel kidney stones (renal stones) in about 6 a month period. I know that's a long time, but if it were to ever come down to not having other options, this is a natural alternative.
Respiratory - Promotes healing of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections.
Sore Throat Relief, Soothes Cough - Can be drank or gargled.
Chewing Fresh Holy Basil Preparation: Following the harvesting instructions on the previous page, harvest the specified number of holy basil leaves you will need off the plant, rinse them well, and chew them fresh.
Remedial Uses for Chewing Fresh Holy Basil Leaves:
Mouth Infections - Chewing about 3 - 4 fresh leaves could cure mouth infections and ulcers, this may need to be done one time daily, for a couple days simultaneously. This can also help bad breath.
Stress and Anxiety - Chewing 12 fresh leaves a day could prevent stress and anxiety disorders. If you choose not to chew these daily, you can chew them at the first sign of heightened stress or anxiety to keep it at bay and provide calming.
Topical Holy Basil Leaf Preparation : Pound about 8 to 10 fresh holy basil leaves until it becomes a paste or cream-type consistency unless otherwise specified. You may need to add drops of water as you pound it out, but only use one or two drops at a time to ensure that you don't make it too watery.
Remedial Uses for Topical Fresh Holy Basil Leaf Cream or Paste:
Arthritis, Inflammation, and Pain Relief - A larger quantity of leaves may need to be used depending on the size of the area that needs relief. Just follow the general instructions, adding leaves and a drop or two of water as needed until you have enough paste to apply topically to the area. This can be done as needed, generally every 3 to 4 hours.
Headache Relief - If the tea doesn't seem to be doing the job, you can pound the leaves with sandalwood paste to be applied topically to temples or right onto the area of your head where you feel the headache.
Insect Bite Relief - Can be applied right to the bite to reduce swelling and ease the stinging, burning, or itching.
Minor Cuts and Scrapes - This can be applied to help with the pain and promote quicker healing. I don't recommend this for burns, I've tried it and it seemed to make it feel worse. Aloe is better, we'll discuss that in another post.
While I'm sure there are additional uses for Holy Basil, these are the main benefits and uses that I am familiar with. If you're aware of additional uses, please comment below so I can add them to this post. Below are the links I looked at to confirm these natural remedies and benefits, feel free to check them out.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Basil?
Basil Plants Have Anti-Arthritic Properties
Holy Basil Benefits: Growing Your Own Medicine
Health Benefits Of Holy Basil - Tulsi
15 Benefits Of Holy Basil (Tulsi)
***************************************************************************************************************
Please be sure and check back in for further information about other natural remedies. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Natural Remedies - Basil (Ocimum Basilicum) - Part 1
There are so many types of basil to choose from, but in the post I'm not going to get into any specific varieties. I'm going to share some tips on growing basil, how to tend to and harvest it as it grows, some of the remedial benefits that basil has to offer, and how to prepare it for the applications of each. Since this is going to be too much information to try and cram into one post, I'll cut it into two parts. I'll cover the tips on growing, tending to, and harvesting it now, and I hope you'll come back for part 2 where I'll cover the remedial uses and how to prepare it for them. Since I'm sure you'll be using a majority of your basil for preparing sauces and other foods, I'd like to share a food rating chart that I pulled from a site called 'The World's Healthiest Foods' before we get into the other information.
As stated in the chart above, these are the values of a half cup (21.20 grams) of fresh chopped basil. You can find a small bunch (usually about 6oz.) of fresh basil at almost any local grocery or big box store, but rather than paying close to a couple bucks for it, you could start growing your own from a pack of seeds for just about the same price, maybe less. It may be too late in the year to grow it outside depending on where you're at, but setting up a small windowsill herb box is always an option to growing any time of year. Just three basil plants that are properly cared for can provide about one to one and a half cups of basil leaves a week.
Wherever you decide to grow your basil, there are a couple things you'll need to take into consideration. Basil loves sunlight, so providing it with at least 6 to 8 hours a day is optimal. Choosing a south facing window will ensure that it receives the most possible natural sunlight in a day, you could also set up an area with grow lights to ensure that it receives adequate lighting if window space isn't an option. The other important thing to remember is that basil roots are very prone to rotting. You'll need to either choose an area outside with good drainage or use a container with holes in the bottom and a water catchment tray.
If you grow basil from seeds, be sure and cover them with between 1/4" to 1/2" of soil. They'll take anywhere between 8 days and 2 weeks to germinate, with an additional 2 - 3 weeks before you have the first true set of leaves. If you've planted the seeds too close together, you'll want to thin them out by either replanting them about 6" apart outside once the danger of frost has passed, or by sticking to two or three plants per 8" container. One of my neighbors told me that the pH levels of your soil are important, and that they should be checked every 4-6 weeks. She says that if the pH level is around 6.0, then you're basil will be just fine. I've never checked pH levels in my soil for any of the plants I grow, but I'm sure there is some sort of over the counter testing kit or something you could look into. She also claims that if you'll just use fertilizer at half strength as often as suggested on the package, this will help make sure the soil is good for the growing and you won't need to do any pH testing.
I've never used any store bought fertilizer. I have access to as much horse manure as I want to pick up, so that's what I use. It may or may not be doing the job, but here's what I do. Occasionally I'll go and shovel some manure from the oldest side of the poop pile, bring it home, and put about a 1/2 or 3/4 of a shovel full worth in a 5-gallon bucket and fill it with water. Every couple days I go out there and stir it around with a stick or something... I've even used my hand. No big deal. About once a month or so I'll fill my watering can with the manure water from that bucket and I'll water whatever plants I can until the there isn't enough water to scoop out anymore. You could try this too or buy fertilizer, it's really up to you.
In order for basil to grow well and keep producing the best amount of leaves, you'll need to harvest it often. Once there are five or six sets of leaves on it, you can start plucking them. The way I do it is to snip off the center shoot just above the second set of leaves from the bottom. If you aren't going to use it right away, you'll need to decide how to store it. Basil doesn't dry out well for me, it never does. It always turns black and the taste very noticeably fades. I believe it has something to do with the high water content in it. If you want to keep it as fresh as you can, keep the center shoot/stem and the leaves intact and put them in a glass or a vase of water just like you would fresh cut flowers. If you keep them like this on a counter and out of direct sunlight, they could stay green for almost 2 weeks.
Basil also freezes well. Make sure you rinse them off before preparing them. If you want to make it into a pesto or something before you freeze it, that's always an option. You could also pluck off the leaves and make them into oil cubes. Roll each leaf, slice them up into thin strips, and loosely put the strips into an ice cube tray. After that you can pour just enough olive oil in each section to cover the strips, and freeze it that way. After they're frozen you can transfer them into a freezer baggy if you'd like, or just keep them in the tray and cover it with plastic wrap.
You can also freeze the leaves whole. By this I mean you can just pluck the leaves off the stem, carefully rinse them off so you don't bruise them, and then dry them on a paper towel or in some sort of salad spinner if you want. Once they're dry, lay them out on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for an hour or two. After that, take them out and loosely stick them in an airtight freezer bag, seal them shut, and stick them back in the freezer until you're ready to use them. Make sure you label the bag with the name and date for future reference. When you harvest more basil, I don't suggest adding the new leaves to the bag that's already been in the freezer. I would just start with a fresh bag every time.
I don't let my basil grow flowers, I pick from it far too often for it to do that. I still don't quite know how long basil will grow before it will just die off if you don't let it flower and go to seed either. Once you decide you're ready to stop using your basil plant and would like to get seeds for future planting, let it grow until it starts to blossom. Once the flowers are there, just leave them alone until they turn brown and the seed pods form. After that, you can pull the pods off and set them in a shallow bowl or something to dry out more. If you look inside the pods, you'll see the seeds inside. You can rub your fingers on them to help the seeds come out, or if you're patient, they'll fall out on their own. You'll need to store the seeds in a cool, dark, and dry area. Some say the freezer or fridge is fine, but I just keep all my seeds in individual baggies inside a jar and stick them in the pantry. You can check into which method is best for you, but when the seeds are stored right they could last for at least 5 years... some argue that basil seeds could last 10+ years, but I don't know that I would have any sitting around that long to test that time length.
Here is a simple video on How To Save Basil Seed by bsntechdotcom that you can watch if you're interested in seeing how it can be done.
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Don't forget to come back for the next post, it will cover the remedial uses for basil, and the applications for each. If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
As stated in the chart above, these are the values of a half cup (21.20 grams) of fresh chopped basil. You can find a small bunch (usually about 6oz.) of fresh basil at almost any local grocery or big box store, but rather than paying close to a couple bucks for it, you could start growing your own from a pack of seeds for just about the same price, maybe less. It may be too late in the year to grow it outside depending on where you're at, but setting up a small windowsill herb box is always an option to growing any time of year. Just three basil plants that are properly cared for can provide about one to one and a half cups of basil leaves a week.
Wherever you decide to grow your basil, there are a couple things you'll need to take into consideration. Basil loves sunlight, so providing it with at least 6 to 8 hours a day is optimal. Choosing a south facing window will ensure that it receives the most possible natural sunlight in a day, you could also set up an area with grow lights to ensure that it receives adequate lighting if window space isn't an option. The other important thing to remember is that basil roots are very prone to rotting. You'll need to either choose an area outside with good drainage or use a container with holes in the bottom and a water catchment tray.
If you grow basil from seeds, be sure and cover them with between 1/4" to 1/2" of soil. They'll take anywhere between 8 days and 2 weeks to germinate, with an additional 2 - 3 weeks before you have the first true set of leaves. If you've planted the seeds too close together, you'll want to thin them out by either replanting them about 6" apart outside once the danger of frost has passed, or by sticking to two or three plants per 8" container. One of my neighbors told me that the pH levels of your soil are important, and that they should be checked every 4-6 weeks. She says that if the pH level is around 6.0, then you're basil will be just fine. I've never checked pH levels in my soil for any of the plants I grow, but I'm sure there is some sort of over the counter testing kit or something you could look into. She also claims that if you'll just use fertilizer at half strength as often as suggested on the package, this will help make sure the soil is good for the growing and you won't need to do any pH testing.
I've never used any store bought fertilizer. I have access to as much horse manure as I want to pick up, so that's what I use. It may or may not be doing the job, but here's what I do. Occasionally I'll go and shovel some manure from the oldest side of the poop pile, bring it home, and put about a 1/2 or 3/4 of a shovel full worth in a 5-gallon bucket and fill it with water. Every couple days I go out there and stir it around with a stick or something... I've even used my hand. No big deal. About once a month or so I'll fill my watering can with the manure water from that bucket and I'll water whatever plants I can until the there isn't enough water to scoop out anymore. You could try this too or buy fertilizer, it's really up to you.
In order for basil to grow well and keep producing the best amount of leaves, you'll need to harvest it often. Once there are five or six sets of leaves on it, you can start plucking them. The way I do it is to snip off the center shoot just above the second set of leaves from the bottom. If you aren't going to use it right away, you'll need to decide how to store it. Basil doesn't dry out well for me, it never does. It always turns black and the taste very noticeably fades. I believe it has something to do with the high water content in it. If you want to keep it as fresh as you can, keep the center shoot/stem and the leaves intact and put them in a glass or a vase of water just like you would fresh cut flowers. If you keep them like this on a counter and out of direct sunlight, they could stay green for almost 2 weeks.
Basil also freezes well. Make sure you rinse them off before preparing them. If you want to make it into a pesto or something before you freeze it, that's always an option. You could also pluck off the leaves and make them into oil cubes. Roll each leaf, slice them up into thin strips, and loosely put the strips into an ice cube tray. After that you can pour just enough olive oil in each section to cover the strips, and freeze it that way. After they're frozen you can transfer them into a freezer baggy if you'd like, or just keep them in the tray and cover it with plastic wrap.
You can also freeze the leaves whole. By this I mean you can just pluck the leaves off the stem, carefully rinse them off so you don't bruise them, and then dry them on a paper towel or in some sort of salad spinner if you want. Once they're dry, lay them out on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for an hour or two. After that, take them out and loosely stick them in an airtight freezer bag, seal them shut, and stick them back in the freezer until you're ready to use them. Make sure you label the bag with the name and date for future reference. When you harvest more basil, I don't suggest adding the new leaves to the bag that's already been in the freezer. I would just start with a fresh bag every time.
I don't let my basil grow flowers, I pick from it far too often for it to do that. I still don't quite know how long basil will grow before it will just die off if you don't let it flower and go to seed either. Once you decide you're ready to stop using your basil plant and would like to get seeds for future planting, let it grow until it starts to blossom. Once the flowers are there, just leave them alone until they turn brown and the seed pods form. After that, you can pull the pods off and set them in a shallow bowl or something to dry out more. If you look inside the pods, you'll see the seeds inside. You can rub your fingers on them to help the seeds come out, or if you're patient, they'll fall out on their own. You'll need to store the seeds in a cool, dark, and dry area. Some say the freezer or fridge is fine, but I just keep all my seeds in individual baggies inside a jar and stick them in the pantry. You can check into which method is best for you, but when the seeds are stored right they could last for at least 5 years... some argue that basil seeds could last 10+ years, but I don't know that I would have any sitting around that long to test that time length.
Here is a simple video on How To Save Basil Seed by bsntechdotcom that you can watch if you're interested in seeing how it can be done.
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Don't forget to come back for the next post, it will cover the remedial uses for basil, and the applications for each. If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
My Thoughts On Gardening - Do You Think You Should Get Started Now?
If you're reading this, it's probably because you realize the importance of preparing yourself and your family for some uncertain future disaster. While I love trying to provide you with the informative posts and videos that will help you do this, along with showing you ways to survive after things have already gone bad, sometimes I'd just like to talk about things that are running through my mind. I decided to start a new section on the blog labeled 'My Thoughts.' There's not really going to be any how-to or informative type of content in it, it's just going to be my thoughts on certain things as they pop into my head. So if you don't mind, I'd like to yank at your ear for a couple minutes.
Have you thought about what you're going to do when your stock of food and supplies start running low? What if things haven't straightened themselves back out to a world we're more familiar with and you notice that you're getting down to the last bag of beans and just a couple cans of vegetables or something? I don't even want to think about all the worrying I would do if I ever seen my food supply starting to get low, there's nothing that scares me more than thinking I can't provide the next meal for my kids. I do some small-scale gardening right now so I can supplement what we eat and what I can add to the foods that I save for the future's unknown, but I think you should be doing the same. Have you thought about doing any gardening, or are you currently doing any right now just to make your food ends meet? Gardening should be everyone's backup plan, but you can't wait until there's only a few days worth of food left in your pantry to start. I think it would be a great idea to learn the ropes of it now if you aren't already familiar with gardening. Not only can this provide food, but it plays a big role in being able to provide yourself with herbal remedies too.
Although some plants (like radishes, green onions, and leafy greens) can start being picked from after about just a month of growing, most take a couple months or more to reach their peak. If you haven't tried growing any of your own produce, now is the best time to try your hand at it. Depending on where you live, it may be too late in the year to grow things outside from start to finish, but there are ways to work around this. You could always purchase a greenhouse, or make your own, to grow in all year long. Or if you have a sunny windowsill you can practice with some small indoor gardening. You may even be interested in setting up an area with growing lights and go that route, if my home was bigger I'd definitely designate a spare room to doing just that. I seen an article on an underground garden that you can grow in without any heating pads or anything too. You can check it out here if you'd like. If my yard were bigger I'd love to have one. However you choose to do it, just do it.
Growing food isn't a skill that everyone should automatically assume they have, it really does involve more than just throwing some seeds in dirt and hoping for the best. I found that out the hard way. The first year I tried gardening, I spent around $100 on seeds, potting soil, containers, and gardening tools just to reap nothing that I had sown. Not a single plant produced anything. In fact, not a single plant grew more than around three inches tall. I still to this day have no idea what I did wrong, but I assumed I just didn't have that green thumb that I noticed so many people in my area seem to have. I felt like adding gardening to my list of can't do's... I almost gave up. I tried a few different things after that, having some luck with some of them, none at all still with others. I do think that the place I moved into about a 16 months ago seems to be the place I was needing, because I have had the best luck here than anywhere else.
I continued reading lots of articles and watching video after video about everything regarding gardening after some of my failed attempts, and when I moved here I decided to give it a try again. I started with just some simple herbs. I don't really know how long herbal plants are supposed to grow before you need to replant, but I'm on well over a year with the same small window box that I regularly pick off for cooking and the thing just keeps growing and growing. This past fall I decided to try some potatoes in the front of my trailer, I was more than excited to see that they'd grown all through fall and winter. In March I dug up 39 potatoes that grew from just the five small potatoes I pulled out of a store bought bag that had sprouted some eyeballs. When I seen that they grew so well, I decided to try a small variety of other things to see what I could get to grow. I can proudly say I think I have the hang of it now, for the most part.
My yard isn't very big so I'm not growing huge amounts of crops or anything, but most of the seeds I did plant seem to be doing just fine. While I'm unsure about whether some of my current plants will grow to maturity so I can pick things from them, the potatoes, sugar snap peas, corn, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes that we've been able to enjoy so far are rewarding enough. Not only did growing these from a low priced pack of seeds save me money, but it gives me a sense of security that if S ever does HTF, I'll be able to continue providing at least these things for my family. I encourage you to grasp onto a little piece of that security for yourself, start off small with just a few things like I did and see where it takes you. Even if nothing works the first crop around, don't give up. You'll figure it out soon enough and it'll pay off in the long run.
Now that I've shared a bit of my thoughts about gardening with you, please share some of your mind with me. What is your take on gardening? Do you think it's worth it? Have you done any gardening in the past, growing anything now, or are you planning on doing any in the future? If you do grow your own food or are thinking about it, what are your opinions on pesticides? Do you think they're a good thing, or are you against using them and would rather try an all natural alternative to keeping plants safe from all the crop terrorizing bugs? I know that some people would rather use them so they don't loose their crops, but others worry about the possibility of contaminating the food. I personally use the Sevin 5% dust because I lost over half of my first plants almost overnight to an army of squash bugs that appeared out of no where. I'd like to go the natural way, but that proved to not work for me. I'm personally stocking back on the stuff, if I may have to depend on only what I can get to grow in the future, I'm not taking any chances of loosing it all just because I'm worried about a little bit of pesticides on my plants. I'll just be sure and wash them well before eating them. What's your opinion on it? I'd love to know.
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If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Have you thought about what you're going to do when your stock of food and supplies start running low? What if things haven't straightened themselves back out to a world we're more familiar with and you notice that you're getting down to the last bag of beans and just a couple cans of vegetables or something? I don't even want to think about all the worrying I would do if I ever seen my food supply starting to get low, there's nothing that scares me more than thinking I can't provide the next meal for my kids. I do some small-scale gardening right now so I can supplement what we eat and what I can add to the foods that I save for the future's unknown, but I think you should be doing the same. Have you thought about doing any gardening, or are you currently doing any right now just to make your food ends meet? Gardening should be everyone's backup plan, but you can't wait until there's only a few days worth of food left in your pantry to start. I think it would be a great idea to learn the ropes of it now if you aren't already familiar with gardening. Not only can this provide food, but it plays a big role in being able to provide yourself with herbal remedies too.
Although some plants (like radishes, green onions, and leafy greens) can start being picked from after about just a month of growing, most take a couple months or more to reach their peak. If you haven't tried growing any of your own produce, now is the best time to try your hand at it. Depending on where you live, it may be too late in the year to grow things outside from start to finish, but there are ways to work around this. You could always purchase a greenhouse, or make your own, to grow in all year long. Or if you have a sunny windowsill you can practice with some small indoor gardening. You may even be interested in setting up an area with growing lights and go that route, if my home was bigger I'd definitely designate a spare room to doing just that. I seen an article on an underground garden that you can grow in without any heating pads or anything too. You can check it out here if you'd like. If my yard were bigger I'd love to have one. However you choose to do it, just do it.
Growing food isn't a skill that everyone should automatically assume they have, it really does involve more than just throwing some seeds in dirt and hoping for the best. I found that out the hard way. The first year I tried gardening, I spent around $100 on seeds, potting soil, containers, and gardening tools just to reap nothing that I had sown. Not a single plant produced anything. In fact, not a single plant grew more than around three inches tall. I still to this day have no idea what I did wrong, but I assumed I just didn't have that green thumb that I noticed so many people in my area seem to have. I felt like adding gardening to my list of can't do's... I almost gave up. I tried a few different things after that, having some luck with some of them, none at all still with others. I do think that the place I moved into about a 16 months ago seems to be the place I was needing, because I have had the best luck here than anywhere else.
I continued reading lots of articles and watching video after video about everything regarding gardening after some of my failed attempts, and when I moved here I decided to give it a try again. I started with just some simple herbs. I don't really know how long herbal plants are supposed to grow before you need to replant, but I'm on well over a year with the same small window box that I regularly pick off for cooking and the thing just keeps growing and growing. This past fall I decided to try some potatoes in the front of my trailer, I was more than excited to see that they'd grown all through fall and winter. In March I dug up 39 potatoes that grew from just the five small potatoes I pulled out of a store bought bag that had sprouted some eyeballs. When I seen that they grew so well, I decided to try a small variety of other things to see what I could get to grow. I can proudly say I think I have the hang of it now, for the most part.
My yard isn't very big so I'm not growing huge amounts of crops or anything, but most of the seeds I did plant seem to be doing just fine. While I'm unsure about whether some of my current plants will grow to maturity so I can pick things from them, the potatoes, sugar snap peas, corn, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes that we've been able to enjoy so far are rewarding enough. Not only did growing these from a low priced pack of seeds save me money, but it gives me a sense of security that if S ever does HTF, I'll be able to continue providing at least these things for my family. I encourage you to grasp onto a little piece of that security for yourself, start off small with just a few things like I did and see where it takes you. Even if nothing works the first crop around, don't give up. You'll figure it out soon enough and it'll pay off in the long run.
Now that I've shared a bit of my thoughts about gardening with you, please share some of your mind with me. What is your take on gardening? Do you think it's worth it? Have you done any gardening in the past, growing anything now, or are you planning on doing any in the future? If you do grow your own food or are thinking about it, what are your opinions on pesticides? Do you think they're a good thing, or are you against using them and would rather try an all natural alternative to keeping plants safe from all the crop terrorizing bugs? I know that some people would rather use them so they don't loose their crops, but others worry about the possibility of contaminating the food. I personally use the Sevin 5% dust because I lost over half of my first plants almost overnight to an army of squash bugs that appeared out of no where. I'd like to go the natural way, but that proved to not work for me. I'm personally stocking back on the stuff, if I may have to depend on only what I can get to grow in the future, I'm not taking any chances of loosing it all just because I'm worried about a little bit of pesticides on my plants. I'll just be sure and wash them well before eating them. What's your opinion on it? I'd love to know.
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If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Collecting Rainwater - Resource, Money, and Life Saver
Next to oxygen, water is the most invaluable natural resource in the world. Without it, humans, animals, plants, and every other living thing would cease to exist. So whether you're paying for city water, have your own well, or you're pulling water from a spring, creek, or river near your home, there really isn't any room for waste. Buying or building your own rainwater catchment system, along with re-using gray water (we'll talk about gray water in a future post), is a great way to reserve water. Setting up a way to collect and harvest rainwater now will not only lower your water bill or help you use less water from your well or private water source, but it's also one of the few life saving ways to provide water in a post-disaster situation.
The obvious use for rainwater would be for gardening and watering your lawn, but when it really comes down to it, anything that you can do with tap water, you can also do with rainwater: showering and hygiene, washing laundry and cleaning, for cooking and drinking (make sure you read my post about water filtration and purification), watering meat animals and pets, and so on. I catch rainwater using nothing more than some buckets that I put out near the corners of my home and in a few spots in my yard before it rains so I have extra water for my gardening, but there's a lot of different ways to go about this. Depending on whether you want to collect just a bit of rainwater like I do or if you want to do it on a larger scale, there are a lot of options to choose from. Check into your current local laws before doing anything, and then think about if you'd rather create your own rainwater catchment system or if you'd like to purchase one that is pre-built.
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If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
The obvious use for rainwater would be for gardening and watering your lawn, but when it really comes down to it, anything that you can do with tap water, you can also do with rainwater: showering and hygiene, washing laundry and cleaning, for cooking and drinking (make sure you read my post about water filtration and purification), watering meat animals and pets, and so on. I catch rainwater using nothing more than some buckets that I put out near the corners of my home and in a few spots in my yard before it rains so I have extra water for my gardening, but there's a lot of different ways to go about this. Depending on whether you want to collect just a bit of rainwater like I do or if you want to do it on a larger scale, there are a lot of options to choose from. Check into your current local laws before doing anything, and then think about if you'd rather create your own rainwater catchment system or if you'd like to purchase one that is pre-built.
Here are a few links to articles and videos to help you decide if making one yourself is right for you:
If you decide to buy a rainwater catchment system instead, here are my suggestions:
Like I mentioned, collecting and harvesting rainwater is illegal in some places. Before doing anything, you should go to USA.gov to be on the safe side and check the current laws and regulations for your location. I know in some places people are encouraged to collect rainwater, but in others you could get fined or receive jail time.
For more ideas on being self sufficient before disasters strike, be sure to check back in and click the 'Pre-disaster Sufficiency' label on the side of the page. There are a lot of things you can do now to provide day to day things in a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way. If you currently collect rainwater or have in the past, please share some details about what type of system you use, how long you've been doing it, and what you use your harvested rainwater for. I'd love to hear about your experiences with this.
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If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so. Leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below. Don't forget you can contact me personally through any of the options on the Contact Magpie page, I'm always open to suggestions for article content and interested in getting to know my blog's readers.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Are You Familiar With Natural Remedies Yet? You Should Be.
This post isn't intended to persuade you to completely cut ties with all over the counter (OTC) and prescribed medicines, but more to encourage you to familiarize yourself with, and maybe even try your thumb at growing your own, remedial herbs and plants. There may come a day when doctors, hospitals, stores, and pharmacies aren't so widely available like they are today, so this is much more rewarding than just having something nice to look at in your yard, greenhouse, or window sill. Instead of adding more confusion to your life and trying to figure all this out at the last second, make yourself familiar now with which plants and herbs are medicinal and what they may help with.
I thought about all the natural remedies that I've heard about or used based on other people's suggestions, and wanted to make a decent list to start you off with. This surely isn't every single one, but it's a start. There are many uses for most of these, so this list will just touch on some of their healing properties. I'll conduct further research and come back in future posts with the specifics on the identification, growing, remedial uses and health benefits, and the applications (preparation) for each one in this list, along others that I learn about along the way.
Aloe Vera - cuts, burns, achy, joints/arthritis
Basil - helps with nausea, lack of appetite, and gas, also as a mild antiseptic and anti-inflammatory
Calendula (Pot Marigold) - antifungal, antiseptic, wound healing
Cat's Claw - boosts immune system
Cayenne - prevents blood clotting, relieves migraines, tooth pain, and joint soreness, can be used on snake bites, wounds, and sores, and can bring relief from flu symptoms
Chamomile (German Chamomile) - calms colic in children, also helps upset stomach, calms nerves, and can be used as a sedative
Cilantro (Coriander) - digestion, also cleanses body of metals and toxins
Cinnamon - since about 99% of bacteria and viruses can't live in the presence of it, this would be good for an antibacterial/antiviral
Dandelion - increases ovarian hormones, calms PMS, and helps with menopause
Eucalyptus - reduces swelling
Fennel - eases stomach muscles, aiding in digestion
Feverfew - lowers fever (thus the name), headache and migraine relief, and can relieve the symptoms of arthritis
Foxglove - wound healing (topical use only, could be fatal if ingested)
Garlic - body detoxification, immunity enhancer, lowers fats in blood, fights infections, helps yeast infections, helps with asthma, sinusitis, circulatory problems, heart conditions, and possibly even cancer
Ginger - anti-inflammatory, nausea, motion sickness, indigestion, and circulatory problems
Lavender - helps with insomnia, alleviates stress, may also help heal cuts, wounds, and sores
Lemon Balm - can reduce stress and anxiety, helps fight off the herpes simplex virus and others that are similar to it, calms stomach spasms, and can be used to soothe and heal bites and stings
Mullein - soothes cough, helps heal bronchial/respiratory infections
Oregano - can prevent inflammation, also has anti-oxidants that could prevent chronic diseases like cancer
Parsley - can fight kidney and bladder infections, used as an iron supplement, can boost energy and circulation, and can be used as a diuretic
Peppermint - relieves vomiting and indigestion, also soothes sore muscles
Rosemary - helps the brain receive more oxygen, giving energy and sharpening the memory, also used for muscle pain relief and digestive problems
Sage - astringent and antibacterial properties that can heal mouth, gum, and throat inflammation, may also be able to stop bleeding
Sorrel - helps jaundice, can be applied to ringworm, sore throat relief, and lower fever
Spearmint - energy booster
Thyme - relieves mild diarrhea, has antiseptic and antibacterial properties that can prevent colds and flu
Turmeric - may slow rheumatoid arthritis
Just like OTC and prescribed medicines, natural remedies have guidelines too. Not only do you need to be 100% sure that you can properly identify the plants and herbs you're about to use, but you need to know which parts are needed. Some things are great for topical remedies, but could be fatal if ingested, so knowing the application guidelines is crucial. Natural remedies can also have some side effects depending on the user. If you're allergic or sensitive to any specific herbs or plants in their natural state, you clearly shouldn't attempt to alter any part of them into a medicinal application. Like every other OTC and prescribed medicine, you need to be familiar with dosages and what they can and can't be paired with. Some aren't intended for children or the elderly, and just like every other medicine, pregnant women need to take extra caution.
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For more guidance on remedial herbs and plants, their identifications, applications, possible side effects, and so on, be sure to check back in and click the 'Natural Remedies' label on the side of the page to find future updated information. If you have any experience using any natural remedies, please share some details in the comments below. I'm sure there's loads more to add to this list and not only will it help anyone else who's interested in this, but every bit of information that I can learn from you is much appreciated. If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so, leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below.
I thought about all the natural remedies that I've heard about or used based on other people's suggestions, and wanted to make a decent list to start you off with. This surely isn't every single one, but it's a start. There are many uses for most of these, so this list will just touch on some of their healing properties. I'll conduct further research and come back in future posts with the specifics on the identification, growing, remedial uses and health benefits, and the applications (preparation) for each one in this list, along others that I learn about along the way.
Aloe Vera - cuts, burns, achy, joints/arthritis
Basil - helps with nausea, lack of appetite, and gas, also as a mild antiseptic and anti-inflammatory
Calendula (Pot Marigold) - antifungal, antiseptic, wound healing
Cat's Claw - boosts immune system
Cayenne - prevents blood clotting, relieves migraines, tooth pain, and joint soreness, can be used on snake bites, wounds, and sores, and can bring relief from flu symptoms
Chamomile (German Chamomile) - calms colic in children, also helps upset stomach, calms nerves, and can be used as a sedative
Cilantro (Coriander) - digestion, also cleanses body of metals and toxins
Cinnamon - since about 99% of bacteria and viruses can't live in the presence of it, this would be good for an antibacterial/antiviral
Dandelion - increases ovarian hormones, calms PMS, and helps with menopause
Eucalyptus - reduces swelling
Fennel - eases stomach muscles, aiding in digestion
Feverfew - lowers fever (thus the name), headache and migraine relief, and can relieve the symptoms of arthritis
Foxglove - wound healing (topical use only, could be fatal if ingested)
Garlic - body detoxification, immunity enhancer, lowers fats in blood, fights infections, helps yeast infections, helps with asthma, sinusitis, circulatory problems, heart conditions, and possibly even cancer
Ginger - anti-inflammatory, nausea, motion sickness, indigestion, and circulatory problems
Lavender - helps with insomnia, alleviates stress, may also help heal cuts, wounds, and sores
Lemon Balm - can reduce stress and anxiety, helps fight off the herpes simplex virus and others that are similar to it, calms stomach spasms, and can be used to soothe and heal bites and stings
Mullein - soothes cough, helps heal bronchial/respiratory infections
Oregano - can prevent inflammation, also has anti-oxidants that could prevent chronic diseases like cancer
Parsley - can fight kidney and bladder infections, used as an iron supplement, can boost energy and circulation, and can be used as a diuretic
Peppermint - relieves vomiting and indigestion, also soothes sore muscles
Rosemary - helps the brain receive more oxygen, giving energy and sharpening the memory, also used for muscle pain relief and digestive problems
Sage - astringent and antibacterial properties that can heal mouth, gum, and throat inflammation, may also be able to stop bleeding
Sorrel - helps jaundice, can be applied to ringworm, sore throat relief, and lower fever
Spearmint - energy booster
Thyme - relieves mild diarrhea, has antiseptic and antibacterial properties that can prevent colds and flu
Turmeric - may slow rheumatoid arthritis
Just like OTC and prescribed medicines, natural remedies have guidelines too. Not only do you need to be 100% sure that you can properly identify the plants and herbs you're about to use, but you need to know which parts are needed. Some things are great for topical remedies, but could be fatal if ingested, so knowing the application guidelines is crucial. Natural remedies can also have some side effects depending on the user. If you're allergic or sensitive to any specific herbs or plants in their natural state, you clearly shouldn't attempt to alter any part of them into a medicinal application. Like every other OTC and prescribed medicine, you need to be familiar with dosages and what they can and can't be paired with. Some aren't intended for children or the elderly, and just like every other medicine, pregnant women need to take extra caution.
***************************************************************************************************************
For more guidance on remedial herbs and plants, their identifications, applications, possible side effects, and so on, be sure to check back in and click the 'Natural Remedies' label on the side of the page to find future updated information. If you have any experience using any natural remedies, please share some details in the comments below. I'm sure there's loads more to add to this list and not only will it help anyone else who's interested in this, but every bit of information that I can learn from you is much appreciated. If you haven't subscribed yet, please consider doing so, leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others who may find it useful. I'm still interested in finding similar blogs and sites too, so please share yours or your favorites in the comments below.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Introduction To Clay Pot Refrigeration
Remember when I said something about clay pot refrigerators in the last post? Let's go over them now. I'm going to tell you how these are made, what makes them work, and then share a couple links to articles and videos about them. I don't think these would be good for anything more than storing fresh produce or maybe for cooling drinks, but being able to lengthen the fresh state of fruits and vegetables alone makes it pretty handy. I don't currently have one, but as long as I can make my way through my to-do list, I should have one in the near future that I can share progress, updates, and notes about. Let's get started.
You'll need:
1 large clay or terracotta pot (one with no holes in the bottom, or you'll need to close them)
1 smaller clay or terracotta pot (again, no holes)
Sand
Water
1 Towel
What to do:
*When you choose your pots, make sure that the smaller one will fit inside the large one. There will need to be a couple centimeters of space in between the pots.
*Place enough sand in the base of the large pot so that when the smaller one is set inside, the tops of both pots are level.
*Fill the area in between the small and large pots with sand, making sure to fill it all the way to the top.
*Pour cool water into the sand, giving it plenty of time to absorb. Gradually add water until the sand can't hold any more, being careful not to overflow it into the smaller pot.
*After your clay pot fridge is set up, wet your towel in cool water, squeeze out as much of the excess water as you can, and lay it across the top so it can start cooling your 'fridge' down.
*Check the temperature inside with either a thermometer, or just your hand, until it cools down. After it cools, you're ready to put in your fresh produce or whatever else you decide to keep inside.
This clay 'fridge' works through evaporation. As the water is evaporated from the sand, it pulls the heat from the inner pot with it.. kind of like when your body sweats and you feel cooler. If you keep the pot in a dry climate and allow it to have the complete outter surface ventilated, without sticking it in some corner where the surface is blocked from air flow or anything, it'll work best. If it's in a humid climate, the pots won't cool so easily either, so sticking it in a root cellar or something is also a no go.
Like I mentioned, I don't know that this would be good for anything other than produce or drinks, but if the temperature was monitored and found to be stable at fridge-like temperatures, I don't see why other things couldn't be stored in it. The sand will need to be checked a couple times a day to make sure it keeps the moisture needed to work.
If you want to see how one is made and watch temperature checks on half-hour intervals, you may want to watch
Zeer Pot Fridge: Cool your food or drinks with no electric needed
You can also check out MixCatCom's channel for more DIY videos
If you're interested in reading more about these, you can click through these links:
Off-Grid SHTF Survival: Ancient Technology For Refrigeration
Zeer Pot Fridge
There's a lot of articles and videos on these, but nothing really covers anything new or different from everyone else's content. It's all a very basic concept.
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I'll answer any questions to the best of my knowledge if you have them, and I'd also love to read your comments and thoughts. Don't forget that I'm trying to find other blogs, sites, and YouTube channels with similar content that I may not have stumbled across yet, so please share yours (or your favorites). Please take a second to subscribe if you haven't and don't forget to share this with others who may find this useful.
You'll need:
1 large clay or terracotta pot (one with no holes in the bottom, or you'll need to close them)
1 smaller clay or terracotta pot (again, no holes)
Sand
Water
1 Towel
What to do:
*When you choose your pots, make sure that the smaller one will fit inside the large one. There will need to be a couple centimeters of space in between the pots.
*Place enough sand in the base of the large pot so that when the smaller one is set inside, the tops of both pots are level.
*Fill the area in between the small and large pots with sand, making sure to fill it all the way to the top.
*Pour cool water into the sand, giving it plenty of time to absorb. Gradually add water until the sand can't hold any more, being careful not to overflow it into the smaller pot.
*After your clay pot fridge is set up, wet your towel in cool water, squeeze out as much of the excess water as you can, and lay it across the top so it can start cooling your 'fridge' down.
*Check the temperature inside with either a thermometer, or just your hand, until it cools down. After it cools, you're ready to put in your fresh produce or whatever else you decide to keep inside.
This clay 'fridge' works through evaporation. As the water is evaporated from the sand, it pulls the heat from the inner pot with it.. kind of like when your body sweats and you feel cooler. If you keep the pot in a dry climate and allow it to have the complete outter surface ventilated, without sticking it in some corner where the surface is blocked from air flow or anything, it'll work best. If it's in a humid climate, the pots won't cool so easily either, so sticking it in a root cellar or something is also a no go.
Like I mentioned, I don't know that this would be good for anything other than produce or drinks, but if the temperature was monitored and found to be stable at fridge-like temperatures, I don't see why other things couldn't be stored in it. The sand will need to be checked a couple times a day to make sure it keeps the moisture needed to work.
If you want to see how one is made and watch temperature checks on half-hour intervals, you may want to watch
Zeer Pot Fridge: Cool your food or drinks with no electric needed
You can also check out MixCatCom's channel for more DIY videos
If you're interested in reading more about these, you can click through these links:
Off-Grid SHTF Survival: Ancient Technology For Refrigeration
Zeer Pot Fridge
There's a lot of articles and videos on these, but nothing really covers anything new or different from everyone else's content. It's all a very basic concept.
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I'll answer any questions to the best of my knowledge if you have them, and I'd also love to read your comments and thoughts. Don't forget that I'm trying to find other blogs, sites, and YouTube channels with similar content that I may not have stumbled across yet, so please share yours (or your favorites). Please take a second to subscribe if you haven't and don't forget to share this with others who may find this useful.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Introduction To Drying And Smoking Meats
Have you thought about what you're going to do if/when the grid goes down and there's no power to run a fridge or freezer to store meat in? Alternative options like backup generators or planning to use an RV fridge are great ideas, but they won't last forever. We'll talk about clay pot refrigerators in a future post, but it's not really something that's good for holding big amounts of anything inside and fresh meat doesn't last too long when just refrigerated anyway. Everyone should practice and familiarize themselves with drying meat. In this post I'm going to cover two ways for drying meat that have been practiced for centuries, by using nothing more than air and the sun or smoke. Neither process requires any electricity and each way will safely prepare meat for storage without refrigeration for quite some time.
The microorganisms that spoil meats need a certain level of moisture in order to grow. Drying meat drops the moisture below the level needed, making the growth of the microorganisms discontinue. Just about any lean meat can be dried. Beef, buffalo, deer, goat, and fish are probably the most common and best choices, pork should be avoided because of its high fat content that can make it go rancid much quicker. The nutritional properties of meats after they're dried remain the same for the most part, and the process itself is fairly simple. Dried meats can last for months without refrigeration, I read that in some cases it may be stored for years when packaged right... when attempting to save meats that long, they'll need to be thoroughly inspected for foul smells, discoloration, or other signs of spoilage before being consumed.
Since drying meat is just a matter of exposing the meat to the sun and air, or air and smoke, to make it lose tissue moisture, the fresher and thinner the meat is sliced, the safer the process will be. Meat needs to be de-boned, trimmed, and then sliced into thin uniform strips or thin steak-like cuts for each batch that is dried. If the meat has been frozen at any time, you'll need to make sure that it is completely thawed or the drying process will be uneven resulting in quickly spoiled meats. Additionally, salting meats before either drying process helps in a couple ways. It'll not only add some flavor and help pull moisture out of the meat, it also makes the surface of meats unattractive to insects that feed on the moisture excreted from the muscle tissue. Only salts without additives (like iodine) should be used. Then the meat is suspended with hooks, loops, or clips from racks or ceilings, or it can be set flat on drying racks. No piece of meat should touch another to ensure the proper air circulation needed to dry it out.
Centuries ago, people hung meats out to dry in the sun, without any protection from the elements. This is still an option today if you have the right climate, but I'm not sure I would attempt this procedure and then just cross my fingers that dogs or dirt wouldn't get to it. Solar dehydrators and smoke houses are probably the best options. Remember that we aren't covering the electric food dehydrator method because we may not always have electricity. I looked around trying to find the best written step by step directions for building your own solar dehydrator and smoke house, just to be slapped with seemingly endless results. After sifting through them all, I believe I have found the best step by steps to share. I'll share links to the articles and videos below. If you don't have time to thoroughly look them over now or if you'd like to refer back to them later, bookmarking the links would be a good idea.
*To make your own solar dehydrator, click below. The article, although not my own, is very thorough and includes not only the materials needed, but also step-by-step instructions for constructing your own solar dehydrator.
How To Make A Simple Solar Food Dehydrator
Be sure and click on to page 2 after you looked this over, it goes over the steps to making the shelving that you lay the meat on to dry.Watch the Simple DIY Solar Food Dehydrator video to go along with the article, and you can always check out more about To Do It Yourself World by clicking the name.
*For instructions on building a smoke house, click the link below. This content isn't mine either, but the content is probably some of the best instructions I found for making a smoke house.
DIY Smoker- How To Build A Smokehouse From Pallets for Less than $100
After you've looked over the article, watch the video that goes along with it. DIY Smoker: How To Build A Smokehouse From Pallets For Less Than $100. You can check out more about DIY Ready - Projects & How To by clicking the name.
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Have you ever dried or hard smoked any meat? I'd love to hear your stories, or just your comments if you have any. I'm interested in checking out other blogs, sites, and YouTube channels that I may not have stumbled across yet, so please share yours (or your favorites). Please take a second to subscribe if you haven't and don't forget to share this with others who may find this useful.
The microorganisms that spoil meats need a certain level of moisture in order to grow. Drying meat drops the moisture below the level needed, making the growth of the microorganisms discontinue. Just about any lean meat can be dried. Beef, buffalo, deer, goat, and fish are probably the most common and best choices, pork should be avoided because of its high fat content that can make it go rancid much quicker. The nutritional properties of meats after they're dried remain the same for the most part, and the process itself is fairly simple. Dried meats can last for months without refrigeration, I read that in some cases it may be stored for years when packaged right... when attempting to save meats that long, they'll need to be thoroughly inspected for foul smells, discoloration, or other signs of spoilage before being consumed.
Since drying meat is just a matter of exposing the meat to the sun and air, or air and smoke, to make it lose tissue moisture, the fresher and thinner the meat is sliced, the safer the process will be. Meat needs to be de-boned, trimmed, and then sliced into thin uniform strips or thin steak-like cuts for each batch that is dried. If the meat has been frozen at any time, you'll need to make sure that it is completely thawed or the drying process will be uneven resulting in quickly spoiled meats. Additionally, salting meats before either drying process helps in a couple ways. It'll not only add some flavor and help pull moisture out of the meat, it also makes the surface of meats unattractive to insects that feed on the moisture excreted from the muscle tissue. Only salts without additives (like iodine) should be used. Then the meat is suspended with hooks, loops, or clips from racks or ceilings, or it can be set flat on drying racks. No piece of meat should touch another to ensure the proper air circulation needed to dry it out.
Centuries ago, people hung meats out to dry in the sun, without any protection from the elements. This is still an option today if you have the right climate, but I'm not sure I would attempt this procedure and then just cross my fingers that dogs or dirt wouldn't get to it. Solar dehydrators and smoke houses are probably the best options. Remember that we aren't covering the electric food dehydrator method because we may not always have electricity. I looked around trying to find the best written step by step directions for building your own solar dehydrator and smoke house, just to be slapped with seemingly endless results. After sifting through them all, I believe I have found the best step by steps to share. I'll share links to the articles and videos below. If you don't have time to thoroughly look them over now or if you'd like to refer back to them later, bookmarking the links would be a good idea.
*To make your own solar dehydrator, click below. The article, although not my own, is very thorough and includes not only the materials needed, but also step-by-step instructions for constructing your own solar dehydrator.
How To Make A Simple Solar Food Dehydrator
Be sure and click on to page 2 after you looked this over, it goes over the steps to making the shelving that you lay the meat on to dry.Watch the Simple DIY Solar Food Dehydrator video to go along with the article, and you can always check out more about To Do It Yourself World by clicking the name.
*For instructions on building a smoke house, click the link below. This content isn't mine either, but the content is probably some of the best instructions I found for making a smoke house.
DIY Smoker- How To Build A Smokehouse From Pallets for Less than $100
After you've looked over the article, watch the video that goes along with it. DIY Smoker: How To Build A Smokehouse From Pallets For Less Than $100. You can check out more about DIY Ready - Projects & How To by clicking the name.
***************************************************************************************************************
Have you ever dried or hard smoked any meat? I'd love to hear your stories, or just your comments if you have any. I'm interested in checking out other blogs, sites, and YouTube channels that I may not have stumbled across yet, so please share yours (or your favorites). Please take a second to subscribe if you haven't and don't forget to share this with others who may find this useful.
**********
Here's an offer for fellow prepping and survival bloggers, or sellers of prepping and survival supplies. I have ad spaces on this blog that you can rent, I would even consider adding a page for advertisement alone. If you're interested, please send an email to messagemagpie@gmail.com to discuss options, or for more information. You must include the phrase 'Ad Space On Magpie Prepper' in order for me to open the email, and please do not include clickable links in the body because it may be automatically sent to spam. Once I receive the initial message, I can add your email to my contact list ensuring that I'll receive future emails from you.
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Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Introduction To Home Canning
I previously posted content about storing foods in BoPET (Mylar-type) bags and oxygen absorbers, the kind of food storage I'm going to talk about now is canning. I've done some canning before, but I'm no where near a 'pro' at it. This post isn't just to help others learn about canning, I'm using the research for writing this to help me understand it better too. In a mini science nutshell, canning gives fresh foods a longer shelf life because it removes oxygen, prevents mold and bacteria from growing, and it kills off botulism spores before they can grow into the botulism toxin. I'm not personally sure how long home canned foods are good for because everything I've ever canned gets eaten within a few months, but quite a few informative articles I've read suggest that the shelf life is anywhere from one to two years. That's no where near as long as store bought canned foods last, but at least you'd be healthier without all the preservatives and it's a great addition to your food storage. Be sure to check out the bottom of this post when you finish reading it, I have some some general questions of my own that you may be able to answer, please leave any questions you may have in the comments so we can discuss those too. I'm also going to share links to articles I read for my research, direct you to a couple good tutorial videos, and share a few good recipe sites with you.
Let's start with the basics of canning, starting with the jars and lids. The glass jars, like Mason jars, come in an assortment of sizes - half pint, pint, pint and a half, quart, and half gallon. I usually can in the half pint and pint size jars, that way I know the contents will be used before they go bad once I open them. The mouth (opening) of the jars are threaded and comes in a standard size of two and three-eighths inches or in a wide mouth size of three inches. This sizes don't make much of a difference, but when it comes to re-using the jars you'll need to make sure you get the right size lids. The lid comes in two pieces - a flat metal lid and a threaded metal screw-on band that holds the flat lid in place. The flat lid has a resin type compound that'll soften up during the canning process. The compound will slightly melt around the mouth of the jar, forming a gasket type seal as the heat escapes, taking the oxygen with it. These jars have an indefinite life, as long as they don't become chipped, cracked, or broken in any way. The flat lids on the other hand, may only be good for five years from the manufacturer date if new. I've tried to read around about re-using the flat lids, or if there's a compound I can buy to re-use them, but all information leads to no. I've seen boxes of wax in the canning isle at Walmart, but I'm not quite sure if it's for canning lids, or something else.
Before starting the canning process, all the jars and lids need to be cleaned and sterilized. It's a fairly simple procedure. (1) Thoroughly wash and rinse each jar, flat lid, and band with hot soapy water. (2) Choose a pot that is deep enough to completely set the jars inside with the opening facing up. (3) Add enough water to the pot to completely fill and cover each jar with at least 2 inches of water. (4) Using high heat, bring the water in the pot to a boil and let it stay at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. This time will vary with higher altitudes. (5) After the water has boiled for the necessary time, turn off the heat and carefully drop in the lids, along with the grasping end of the tongs you will be using. (6) The lids and tongs need to sit in the hot water a minimum of 10 minutes, but can be left for longer. Don't take the lids out until they are ready to be put on the jars. (8) To be sure that the jars stay sanitized until the process is finished, the jars need to be lifted out of the pot with the tongs, dumped out, and then set mouth side up on a clean paper towel or towel. You can let the jars sit for a minute or so before actually filling them, but the filling will need to be done as soon as possible to ensure that the jar doesn't cool. Pouring hot foods/ingredients into a cool jar could cause them to crack or even burst.
Now that the basic information for the jars, lids, and their sterilization
is out of the way, let's talk about canning methods. There are two different methods to choose from, pressure canning or in a boiling water bath. I don't personally have any hands on experience with the pressure canners, but since I read up on them I'll try to explain. A pressure canner is a heavy-duty kettle type piece of equipment with screw clamps, a vent, and a way to monitor and control pressure. Before each use, you'll need to clean, inspect, and assemble the equipment, being sure not to get the gauge wet or bump it around. The pressure gauge should be checked before each canning season and from what I understand, you should be able to have this done at your local county extension office. As far as the step by step directions go for using a pressure canner, you'll need to thoroughly read the instructions manual that comes with it and then save it for future reference. Now for how it works. Water comes to a boil at 212 degrees F, but pressure canners have the ability to bring the food contents inside the jars to 240 degrees F or higher. Since plain vegetables, soups, animal products, and any other low acid foods with a pH level of 4.6 or above need a minimum of 240 degrees F to properly eliminate botulism, pressure caning is the only safe method to use.
The other canning method, and the one I 'm pretty familiar with, is a boiling water bath. Water bath canning is done with nothing more than a deep pot with a lid, and a rack that will set down inside the pot. I personally use a 15.5 quart sized stock pot that came with a steam tray that sits in the bottom, I think I paid around $20 for it when I bought it. If you can foods in larger quantities, you can find much larger pots than the one I have. Since botulism spores can't grow into the botulism toxin in acidic foods, water bath canning is great for acidic fruits, pickled vegetables, jellies, jams, and any other food that have, or can be altered to have, a pH of 4.6 or less. The pH can be brought to needed levels with additions of citric acids like lemon or lime juice, or vinegar. When you are preparing the pot for the canning, you'll need enough water to ensure that once the \jars are lowered in, they will be covered with about 2 inches of water. The tops of the jars should never be above the water at any time once the process begins. Depending on the contents you're canning, there are guidelines for head space (the space between the contents and the lid) and the time they need to be in the boiling water. If the water stops boiling for any reason, bring the water back to a boil and restart the timer for the processing time. Once this time period is complete, turn the burner off or remove the pot from the heat and leave the lid on for about 5 minutes before opening it. Letting it sit for 5 minutes gives a higher success rate for the seals and allows the contents to settle before you remove them.
Using tongs, take the jars out of the pressure canner or the boiling water bath, and set them on a towel to cool. A cool counter top could shock hot jars causing them to crack, or maybe even burst. Make sure you pick a good place where they won't be in the way because they should cool over night at least. I like to leave them for at least 24 hours and then make sure the seals took right before I store them away. I do a simple test by pushing on the center of the lid. If it doesn't pop up then the seal should be fine. After that test passes, I carefully remove the screw on lid band and grasp the edges of the flat lid, carefully picking up the jar about an inch or 2 to make double sure the seal took. That's the extent of my seal testing, but according to a few things I've read, you can also check the seal by tapping a spoon on it. I guess you can tap the bottom of the spoon on the top center of the lid. If it makes a higher pitched ping sound then they're sealed correctly, but a dull sound could mean they didn't, unless there's food touching the inside of the lid, which will make a dull tap sound anyway... a little weary on this testing method, so I'll just stick to my regulars.
You may notice that the exterior of your jars seem a bit cloudy once they finish processing too, especially if you used tap water. Even if your tap water isn't really hard water, the smallest traces of lime and other minerals can leave the exterior of your jars mucked with mineral deposits. You can add a cup of white vinegar to the water you submerge the jars in before it's hot. This will keep your jars crystal clear on the outside and it'll make the pressure canner or pot easier to clean. Having a chalky looking exterior doesn't effect the quality or safety of the contents in it, but sometimes it feels strange (to me) pulling out a cloudy jar. If you already have some cloudy jars because you hadn't added the vinegar on previous canning sessions, you can clean them off with vinegar too. I've read some suggestions about submerging the jars into warm water that has vinegar in it, but I can't help but feel like if I stuck jars that already cooled into hot water again, it may mess up the seal or something, but I could be wrong. I just dip a clean hand towel in white vinegar and wipe it off, then rinse the whole jar in cool water and dry it. Even though the crystal clean appearance on the outside of your jar makes no difference as far as quality or safety, jars that are sticky or have other food residues on the outside do need wiped off to avoid attracting ants or any other pests.
Once all your jars are properly processed, wiped off if needed, cooled, and the seals are checked, it's time for you to put them away somewhere. Be sure and write whatever food the jar contains and write the date that you canned them. I always write it all on the flat lid so I can re-use the jars for future canning without them being marked up already. Storing them without the screw on band in a dark, clean, and dry place is best, as long as the temperature of the area keeps between 50-70 degrees F. I just put mine in the pantry. Remember to put the newest jars in the back of your stock and pull the older ones forward so they are stored for first in - first out use, just like with everything else that has an expiration date. Again with the shelf life. I've never had anything that I canned last more than a few months before it was eaten, but some research leads me to believe that home canned foods are good for a year for sure, possibly up to 2 years depending on the contents and the atmosphere they're kept in. Now for some telltale signs of spoilage. If you see any leaking, bulging, or swollen lids, or if the jar has cracked, chipped, or broken, throw it away without opening it. If you open a jar because you don't notice any of the previous signs that they went bad and any foam or liquid spurts out, throw it away. Clean it up any spills with a diluted bleach water to make sure you get rid of any botulism or other bad bacteria. If no liquids spurt out but the contents are discolored, smell bad, or are moldy, throw them away too. Never taste any home canned foods to make sure they're good or not. Even the smallest taste test that contains botulism toxins can be deadly.
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Now I have some questions of my own, let's see if you can answer any or just discuss them with me in the comment section below:
Do you personally know of a longer shelf life for any specific home canned foods passed the 2 year mark? If so, what was the shelf life and what were the contents of the jar?
Do you know of a way to re-use the flat jar lids?
Have you seen the brick of wax in the canning section at Walmart, or any other store? If so, is it for canning and have you ever tried it?
Would you trust re-using the lid if you were able to scrape off the old compound and put on a new compound?
Do you have another way to check the seal on your lids?
What are some of your favorite things to can?
Have you canned bacon or heard of anyone who has?
Have you canned any other meat? If so, what kind?
What questions do you have?
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Before I go, I want to share some links with you. I didn't pull anything word for word from these, but this post was partially summarized through some of these. I do not own any of the content or videos in the following links.
General Canning Information
Boiling Water Bath vs. Pressure Canning
Safe Water Bath and Pressure Canning
National Center For Home Food Preservation
Cooperative Extension System Offices
Ball - Fresh Preserving
Canning 101 - video
Canning 101 Pressure vs. Water Bath - video
Canning, Pickling, and Preserves 101 - recipes
Recipe Index - recipes
I hope you enjoyed this post. Please be sure and subscribe if you haven't already, answer some of my questions if you can and ask any that you have, leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others that may find it useful. Check back in a couple days to see the next food storage method on the list, it's a good one. Until then...
Let's start with the basics of canning, starting with the jars and lids. The glass jars, like Mason jars, come in an assortment of sizes - half pint, pint, pint and a half, quart, and half gallon. I usually can in the half pint and pint size jars, that way I know the contents will be used before they go bad once I open them. The mouth (opening) of the jars are threaded and comes in a standard size of two and three-eighths inches or in a wide mouth size of three inches. This sizes don't make much of a difference, but when it comes to re-using the jars you'll need to make sure you get the right size lids. The lid comes in two pieces - a flat metal lid and a threaded metal screw-on band that holds the flat lid in place. The flat lid has a resin type compound that'll soften up during the canning process. The compound will slightly melt around the mouth of the jar, forming a gasket type seal as the heat escapes, taking the oxygen with it. These jars have an indefinite life, as long as they don't become chipped, cracked, or broken in any way. The flat lids on the other hand, may only be good for five years from the manufacturer date if new. I've tried to read around about re-using the flat lids, or if there's a compound I can buy to re-use them, but all information leads to no. I've seen boxes of wax in the canning isle at Walmart, but I'm not quite sure if it's for canning lids, or something else.
Before starting the canning process, all the jars and lids need to be cleaned and sterilized. It's a fairly simple procedure. (1) Thoroughly wash and rinse each jar, flat lid, and band with hot soapy water. (2) Choose a pot that is deep enough to completely set the jars inside with the opening facing up. (3) Add enough water to the pot to completely fill and cover each jar with at least 2 inches of water. (4) Using high heat, bring the water in the pot to a boil and let it stay at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. This time will vary with higher altitudes. (5) After the water has boiled for the necessary time, turn off the heat and carefully drop in the lids, along with the grasping end of the tongs you will be using. (6) The lids and tongs need to sit in the hot water a minimum of 10 minutes, but can be left for longer. Don't take the lids out until they are ready to be put on the jars. (8) To be sure that the jars stay sanitized until the process is finished, the jars need to be lifted out of the pot with the tongs, dumped out, and then set mouth side up on a clean paper towel or towel. You can let the jars sit for a minute or so before actually filling them, but the filling will need to be done as soon as possible to ensure that the jar doesn't cool. Pouring hot foods/ingredients into a cool jar could cause them to crack or even burst.
Now that the basic information for the jars, lids, and their sterilization
is out of the way, let's talk about canning methods. There are two different methods to choose from, pressure canning or in a boiling water bath. I don't personally have any hands on experience with the pressure canners, but since I read up on them I'll try to explain. A pressure canner is a heavy-duty kettle type piece of equipment with screw clamps, a vent, and a way to monitor and control pressure. Before each use, you'll need to clean, inspect, and assemble the equipment, being sure not to get the gauge wet or bump it around. The pressure gauge should be checked before each canning season and from what I understand, you should be able to have this done at your local county extension office. As far as the step by step directions go for using a pressure canner, you'll need to thoroughly read the instructions manual that comes with it and then save it for future reference. Now for how it works. Water comes to a boil at 212 degrees F, but pressure canners have the ability to bring the food contents inside the jars to 240 degrees F or higher. Since plain vegetables, soups, animal products, and any other low acid foods with a pH level of 4.6 or above need a minimum of 240 degrees F to properly eliminate botulism, pressure caning is the only safe method to use.
The other canning method, and the one I 'm pretty familiar with, is a boiling water bath. Water bath canning is done with nothing more than a deep pot with a lid, and a rack that will set down inside the pot. I personally use a 15.5 quart sized stock pot that came with a steam tray that sits in the bottom, I think I paid around $20 for it when I bought it. If you can foods in larger quantities, you can find much larger pots than the one I have. Since botulism spores can't grow into the botulism toxin in acidic foods, water bath canning is great for acidic fruits, pickled vegetables, jellies, jams, and any other food that have, or can be altered to have, a pH of 4.6 or less. The pH can be brought to needed levels with additions of citric acids like lemon or lime juice, or vinegar. When you are preparing the pot for the canning, you'll need enough water to ensure that once the \jars are lowered in, they will be covered with about 2 inches of water. The tops of the jars should never be above the water at any time once the process begins. Depending on the contents you're canning, there are guidelines for head space (the space between the contents and the lid) and the time they need to be in the boiling water. If the water stops boiling for any reason, bring the water back to a boil and restart the timer for the processing time. Once this time period is complete, turn the burner off or remove the pot from the heat and leave the lid on for about 5 minutes before opening it. Letting it sit for 5 minutes gives a higher success rate for the seals and allows the contents to settle before you remove them.
Using tongs, take the jars out of the pressure canner or the boiling water bath, and set them on a towel to cool. A cool counter top could shock hot jars causing them to crack, or maybe even burst. Make sure you pick a good place where they won't be in the way because they should cool over night at least. I like to leave them for at least 24 hours and then make sure the seals took right before I store them away. I do a simple test by pushing on the center of the lid. If it doesn't pop up then the seal should be fine. After that test passes, I carefully remove the screw on lid band and grasp the edges of the flat lid, carefully picking up the jar about an inch or 2 to make double sure the seal took. That's the extent of my seal testing, but according to a few things I've read, you can also check the seal by tapping a spoon on it. I guess you can tap the bottom of the spoon on the top center of the lid. If it makes a higher pitched ping sound then they're sealed correctly, but a dull sound could mean they didn't, unless there's food touching the inside of the lid, which will make a dull tap sound anyway... a little weary on this testing method, so I'll just stick to my regulars.
You may notice that the exterior of your jars seem a bit cloudy once they finish processing too, especially if you used tap water. Even if your tap water isn't really hard water, the smallest traces of lime and other minerals can leave the exterior of your jars mucked with mineral deposits. You can add a cup of white vinegar to the water you submerge the jars in before it's hot. This will keep your jars crystal clear on the outside and it'll make the pressure canner or pot easier to clean. Having a chalky looking exterior doesn't effect the quality or safety of the contents in it, but sometimes it feels strange (to me) pulling out a cloudy jar. If you already have some cloudy jars because you hadn't added the vinegar on previous canning sessions, you can clean them off with vinegar too. I've read some suggestions about submerging the jars into warm water that has vinegar in it, but I can't help but feel like if I stuck jars that already cooled into hot water again, it may mess up the seal or something, but I could be wrong. I just dip a clean hand towel in white vinegar and wipe it off, then rinse the whole jar in cool water and dry it. Even though the crystal clean appearance on the outside of your jar makes no difference as far as quality or safety, jars that are sticky or have other food residues on the outside do need wiped off to avoid attracting ants or any other pests.
Once all your jars are properly processed, wiped off if needed, cooled, and the seals are checked, it's time for you to put them away somewhere. Be sure and write whatever food the jar contains and write the date that you canned them. I always write it all on the flat lid so I can re-use the jars for future canning without them being marked up already. Storing them without the screw on band in a dark, clean, and dry place is best, as long as the temperature of the area keeps between 50-70 degrees F. I just put mine in the pantry. Remember to put the newest jars in the back of your stock and pull the older ones forward so they are stored for first in - first out use, just like with everything else that has an expiration date. Again with the shelf life. I've never had anything that I canned last more than a few months before it was eaten, but some research leads me to believe that home canned foods are good for a year for sure, possibly up to 2 years depending on the contents and the atmosphere they're kept in. Now for some telltale signs of spoilage. If you see any leaking, bulging, or swollen lids, or if the jar has cracked, chipped, or broken, throw it away without opening it. If you open a jar because you don't notice any of the previous signs that they went bad and any foam or liquid spurts out, throw it away. Clean it up any spills with a diluted bleach water to make sure you get rid of any botulism or other bad bacteria. If no liquids spurt out but the contents are discolored, smell bad, or are moldy, throw them away too. Never taste any home canned foods to make sure they're good or not. Even the smallest taste test that contains botulism toxins can be deadly.
****************************************************************************************************************
Now I have some questions of my own, let's see if you can answer any or just discuss them with me in the comment section below:
Do you personally know of a longer shelf life for any specific home canned foods passed the 2 year mark? If so, what was the shelf life and what were the contents of the jar?
Do you know of a way to re-use the flat jar lids?
Have you seen the brick of wax in the canning section at Walmart, or any other store? If so, is it for canning and have you ever tried it?
Would you trust re-using the lid if you were able to scrape off the old compound and put on a new compound?
Do you have another way to check the seal on your lids?
What are some of your favorite things to can?
Have you canned bacon or heard of anyone who has?
Have you canned any other meat? If so, what kind?
What questions do you have?
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Before I go, I want to share some links with you. I didn't pull anything word for word from these, but this post was partially summarized through some of these. I do not own any of the content or videos in the following links.
General Canning Information
Boiling Water Bath vs. Pressure Canning
Safe Water Bath and Pressure Canning
National Center For Home Food Preservation
Cooperative Extension System Offices
Ball - Fresh Preserving
Canning 101 - video
Canning 101 Pressure vs. Water Bath - video
Canning, Pickling, and Preserves 101 - recipes
Recipe Index - recipes
I hope you enjoyed this post. Please be sure and subscribe if you haven't already, answer some of my questions if you can and ask any that you have, leave a comment if you have one, and share this with others that may find it useful. Check back in a couple days to see the next food storage method on the list, it's a good one. Until then...
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